Jamie Potter and the Arrogant Warlock's Curse
by Krys Griffin
Summary: When Albus Dumbledore screwed up the magic he cast on the newly orphaned Potter Child, and the Dursleys refused to have anything to do with magic in their house (even Petunia's former brother-in-law's surname), things start to get a bit... different. Rating for things that are likely to occur in future years. Also... J.K. Rowling, I am not... just saying.
1. Who's Harry Potter?

_Summery – The 'Boy-Who-Lived'… never heard of Harry Potter, and it's all Albus Dumbledore's fault._

 _Disclaimer – J.K. Rowling, I am not… there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you've probably read before if you're reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 ** _Segment 1 - Who's Harry Potter?_**

On November 1st of 1981, Mrs. Petunia Dursley opened the front door of her spectacularly normal house, in the middle of the most perfectly normal town of Little Whinging, Surrey to collect the milk as she did every morning. That particular morning, however, she found the milkman about to knock on her door and a basket on the stoop filled with a baby and a note. Quickly taking the child inside and trying to reassure the milkman repeatedly that everything was "perfectly alright," she shooed him away and ran quickly to her husband.

Mr. Vernon Dursley, surprised that his perfectly normal wife was acting strangely, asked her what the matter was, to which she shockingly stood, with her hand to her mouth, and simply handed him the letter.

 **Dear Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley,**

 **It is my sad duty to inform you that Lily Potter nee Evans and her husband James Potter were tragically killed last evening. As such, I am placing  
** **their child, Harry James Potter, into your care. While he is part of your household, the blood wards I have erected will protect you from mages  
** **who would seek to harm the boy.**

 **My sincerest condolences,**

 _ **Albus Dumbledore**_

"I'll not have it! It's straight to the orphanage with this one!"

"But Vernon, dear. If they would seek to harm him, they might harm us as well. Perhaps it would be better to keep the child close… for Dudley's sake."

"Fine! But I'll not use that, that MAN'S name! And you said it yourself last night; Harry is such a nasty, common name."

"We'll call him James Evans then."

"Grrr. Fine. We'll just have to stamp that dangerous nonsense out of him, I won't have that in my house, even if I must put up with it out there!" he said pointing out the window.

And thus, James Evans joined the Dursley household.

 ** _-10 years later-_**

James hated his life.

It was as simple as that.

Take for instance the last month here in his personal hell, otherwise known as the Dursley residence of 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. On the last day of classes, his cousin Dudley and his gang of friends (Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon), took turns throwing rocks at James until one of them knocked James' glasses off and broke them. When a teacher saw this happen, James got in trouble for aggravating his cousin and sent to detention for the rest of the day. A week later, James was punished for knocking Mrs. Figg down and breaking her leg, when he hadn't even been there. Then there was the really strange escape of a Brazilian, Boa Constrictor at the local zoo… James had no idea how that happened, but as usual, he was punished for it.

James hated his life.

At the click of the mail slot, Uncle Vernon asked Dudley to get the mail, but if Dudley wasn't doing what Dudley wanted to do, he refused to do it, and simply said, "Make James get it." To which Uncle Vernon immediately acquiesced and yelled, "Get the mail, Boy!" which is the only name Uncle Vernon ever called James.

On the way to the kitchen, James looked through the mail to sort out the junk as Uncle Vernon demanded be done, and he came across a rather peculiar, yellow envelope addressed to the cupboard under the stairs where James slept.

"Uncle Vernon. Who's Harry Potter?"

"Give that here, Boy! What's rule 1?"

"Don't ask questions."

"Right! Go to your cupboard!"

The next few days, saw Uncle Vernon go nuts. First he actually took something from Dudley and gave it to James, namely Dudley's second bedroom, then refused to return it. Then Uncle Vernon took to sleeping in front of the mail slot, before he nailed it shut that is. Following that, somehow, the mail started shooting in through the fireplace and Uncle Vernon ordered them to pack a bag because they were leaving, muttering something along the lines of "got to shake them off."

Monday, July 30th found them holed up in a tiny, two room shack on a deserted island in the midst of a storm. James was having difficulty sleeping from the gnawing hunger in his stomach (he hadn't eaten in two days because Dudley kept taking his meager food allowances) and the loud rumbling of Dudley's snore. At midnight (according to Dudley's digital watch), the others were awakened by tremendous BOOMs, as someone slammed a knock on the door. Dudley stupidly asked where the cannon was, while Uncle Vernon shouted out threatening that he was armed and waved his shotgun around recklessly. Then the door fell off its' hinges, Uncle Vernon was so startled that he fired into the ceiling dumping the accumulated water on Aunt Petunia's head. A giant of a man stepped into the room and quickly snatched the rifle from Uncle Vernon, tied it in a knot, and tossed it back to him (for the safety of everyone else present).

"Ah, there yeh are, Harry" the giant said, his beetle black eyes dancing with mirth over his thick scraggly beard. "Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby. Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."

"Harry? You mean those letters where addressed… to me?" James asked.

"Rule 1!" Uncle Vernon shouted before ordering the giant to leave at once.

"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," the giant said waving him off. "Anyway, Harry. Got summat fer yeh – mighta sat on it a bit at some point, but it'll taste all right. A very happy birthday to yeh."

"I'm sorry sir, you must have me confused with someone else," James said shaking his head sadly, "My birthday is in November."

"Dursley! What've yeh been tellin' this boy? Do you mean ter tell me that this boy – THIS boy! – kows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"

"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon angrily, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"

"Wizard?" James muttered.

"Yeh're the worst sort'a muggle I ever seen."

"What's a muggle?" James stared at the giant arguing with his uncle. He really couldn't follow all of it, but got the feeling that the giant knew a lot about his parents, his name really was Harry Potter, and his Aunt and Uncle knew all of the stuff the giant was talking about, though refused to accept. When Dudley snatched the large chocolate cake the giant had given James, James noticed one of the peculiar, yellow letters addressed to 'Harry Potter' that was beneath it. Since the giant, and evidently his Aunt and Uncle, all agree that James' name is really Harry, he decided to open it. Inside was a short form letter inviting 'Harry Potter' to a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and a supply list sent by the Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.

"HE'S NOT GOING! I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" Uncle Vernon yelled.

The giant's voice got deathly chill as he replied, "NEVER – INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!" then, with a flash of violet light from the giant's pink umbrella, Dudley (who'd already consumed over half the chocolate cake) grew a curly pig's tail through the seat of his trousers and ran squealing over to his mother.

"Comin' Harry?" the giant asked as he turned back to the door.

James hesitated for a second, then looked at his aunt and uncle, remembered that he hated his life, and ran to the giant. Once outside the giant fixed the door, and led James down to the little row boat the Dursleys had used to get to the island earlier that evening. Though James would have sworn the boat would never hold the giant, the tiny water vessel floated along just fine. There was just one thing that was nagging James at that moment.

"Um, excuse me, sir… but… who are you?"

The giant chuckled, rocking the row boat, "I haven't introduced meself, Harry. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

"Pleased to meet you, sir, but please… call me James."

"Tha' was yer dad's name," the giant looked close to tears, "I think he'd be honored to have yeh use it… James."

For the rest of the night, Hagrid told James about his parents, James and Lily Potter, and a bit about how 'Harry' had ended up with his aunt and uncle, but wouldn't give a lot of details. James didn't push, since it looked like the giant was on the verge of tears throughout the whole story.

 _ **-Author's Note-**_

Next installments should be up to Halloween, then through Christmas... yeah, I'm rushing first year a bit probably, but I really want to get to some of the better parts of the story... and I think you'll be a bit surprised by some of the twists I've picked out for this tale.

Like / Review / Whatever... I plan to write on this for a bit either way (I'm also thinking about a title for this... so that will change sometime soon).


	2. Introduction to Magic

_Summery – The 'Boy-Who-Lived'… never heard of Harry Potter, and it's all Albus Dumbledore's fault._

 _Disclaimer – J.K. Rowling, I am not… there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you've probably read before if you're reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 2 - Introduction to Magic**_

The next morning James was awakened by an owl of all things, pecking at the huge coat Hagrid must have tossed over him when he'd fallen asleep. When James finally got Hagrid's attention, he muttered that James should "pay the bird five Knuts," not that James had any idea what a Knut was. The owl patiently waited as James pulled lots of really bizarre items out of Hagrid's coat (I mean really, who carries around live mice? Better than dead mice I suppose, but still…). While the owl looked interested in the live mice, it didn't want them as payment so James kept looking, until he pulled out a handful of odd looking little bronze crescent shaped coins, to which the owl hopped over and pulled five out with its' talons and promptly flew away (at least James hoped it was only five, he didn't get a chance to count it).

"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered browsing the paper the owl had delivered.

"There's a Ministry of Magic?"

"'Course, Harry. Mostly ter keep muggles from knowin' there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."

"James…" James muttered quietly, though he was beginning to doubt that Hagrid would ever remember, "What are they 'messing up' this time?"

"They's orderin' the goblins at Gringott's ter send their dragons to a reserve an' such."

"Goblins? Gringott's? DRAGONS?"

"I'd like a dragon. Wanted one ever since I was a kid, I did. Well, we'd bes' be off, Harry. Lot's ter do today."

James was disappointed when Hagrid hadn't really answered any of his other questions that morning, and was honestly surprised at how bad the Ministry of Magic were at their primary job of keeping the knowledge of magic from non-magical folk, because, unless they had a team of ten or so invisible people following Hagrid around to prevent people from remembering anything, while Hagrid gaped at all the 'muggle' stuff like parking meters and money (which drew quite a bit of attention), and James really didn't think Hagrid realized just how loud his voice was as he rambled on about random stuff he thought James should know about magic. James hoped they got paid well as he thought that would have to be an exhausting job.

"Ah, here we are. The Leaky Cauldron. 'Tis a famous place." Hagrid said as he pushed open the door of a tiny, grubby-looking building James wouldn't have noticed had it not been for Hagrid. The low buzz of conversation in the dark, little, shabby pub cut off as Hagrid stepped through the door, only to erupt into chaos when James came into view. He was regretfully pondering whether or not he should just give up trying and accept being called Harry by the time Hagrid managed to get the two of them into the little courtyard behind the pub. Hagrid was muttering about what brick it was as he tapped the wall with his umbrella, until suddenly the wall started twisting and folding in on itself to create an archway leading to a very 'unnatural' street, as his aunt and uncle would have called it.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Harry! Still got yer letter?" Hagrid asked, and when James waved it, he continued, "Good. Let's have a look then." Snatching the letter out of James hand, Hagrid mused, "Yes, yes, hmm… follow me, Harry."

James had to run to keep up with the lumbering giant, barely catching a glimpse of anything in the various shops they passed, until they reached a towering white structure with the legend 'Gringott's' in large, brightly polished letters over huge bronze doors guarded by what James thought had to be a halberd wielding goblin in a scarlet and gold uniform. "Um, Hagrid. Where are we?"

"Gringott's Wizards' Bank, Harry. Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it. Never mess with goblins."

"Right." From the displeased look on the goblins' face, James doubted that the goblins saw the bank as belonging to the wizards, but decided not to comment on that front. While he waited in line with Hagrid for the next free teller, James idly listened to a young, bushy haired girl lecturing the goblin in front of her on the merits of a base ten monetary system. He thought she had some really good points in her argument, but the goblin looked like he was getting angrier by the second before yelling at her to "go away."

A goblin named Griphook led them to vault 713 first, from which Hagrid took a tiny parcel wrapped in what looked like burlap and tied with a shoe string, before heading to "Harry Potter's" trust account. James was a little annoyed with the goblins by this point for calling him 'Miss Potter' all the time, but chose to disregard it due to Hagrid's warning to not make them angry. When Griphook opened James' vault to reveal literally mountains of gold, he had a brief thought of diving into it as he'd seen Scrooge McDuck do on one of Dudley's favorite TV programs once, but then remembered that metal is really hard to land on.

"The gold ones are Galleons," Hagrid explained, "seventeen Sickles to a Galleon… them's the silver ones. Twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle."

"One, seventeen, twenty-nine? I think that girl was right." James muttered as he loaded a pouch with coins. The pouch must have been larger on the inside, because there's no way the huge handfuls Hagrid was dumping in would fit otherwise.

After leaving Gringott's, James wondered aloud where they should go first, to which Hagrid recommended Madam Malkin's robe shop for his uniforms while Hagrid went off to get himself a drink at the Leaky Caldron as a 'pick me up' after the mine cart rides they took in Gringott's. Left to his own devices, James looked at the list again.

"Work robes, hat, winter cloak, protective gloves, books, wand, tools, and a telescope? What, no swim wear, evening attire, luggage, hygiene accoutrements, entertainment restrictions other than 'no brooms for first years'?" James muttered to himself. "Maybe it's a good thing Hagrid went to get drunk, I doubt he'd let me get the supplies I actually need, seeing how focused he was on this 'list'." Knowing that tailoring took a while (since he had done most of it for Uncle Vernon for the past three years) he decided to follow Hagrid's advice to get the robes first. This way he could inquire about where to get the rest of his supplies while being measured, and pick up at least the luggage while the robes were being altered to fit him.

The afternoon was kind of fun for James as he went from shop to shop picking up various things for school including lots of books not on the school list and a beautiful snowy owl he'd fallen in love with on sight, Even though Ollivander charged him ten Galleons instead of the listed seven for blowing up half his shop. The sales clerk at the luggage shop had annoyed James though, the guy kept trying to get him to buy the most basic, and probably oldest, and worn out looking trunk in the place, but James forced the issue and got out of there with a three compartment trunk with self-shrinking and weight reduction charms on it, and a really good lock. He wasn't sure why but he also wound up with five pairs of shoes.

When Hagrid showed back up hours later a bit tipsy, he led James to King's Cross Station a few blocks away on the muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron then just vanished, as if expecting James to find his own way back to his own personal hell (AKA – the Dursley house). Instead, James promptly turned around and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron and asked Tom to rent him a room for the rest of the month.

* * *

The month of August passed rather quickly for James. Tom finally got around to stop calling him Harry after the first week, and since he had little to do other than take care of himself, James spent the time reading through his many new books. On September the first, James double checked his room to make sure he hadn't missed anything, before shrinking his trunk down and sticking it in his trouser pocket. After settling the last of his bill with Tom, James headed out to King's Cross, carrying Hedwig (the snowy owl) in a Notice-Me-Not charmed cage.

It was a good thing James had decided to leave early, as ten o'clock found him standing staring at the barrier between platforms nine and ten and wondering who he could ask about how to get to the platform nine and three-quarters listed on the ticket that had been included with his school list. The guards around the platform had never heard of Hogwarts, you would think the Ministry of Magic would station someone here to direct students properly, so they wouldn't inadvertently advertise the existence of magic. James was about to return to the Leaky Cauldron and ask Tom when he overheard a rather plump, red-headed woman quizzing her children about muggles and platform nine and three-quarters (another reason to have ministry guards here). James tried to watch closely but the loads of other people in the area made it rather difficult. Rather than missing out entirely, James quickly approached the woman and asked how to get to the platform. After having seen at three of her children pass through the wall, James decided she was probably telling the truth when she told him to just walk through it, so after taking a deep breath and closing his eyes he did just that. When he opened his eyes again, after not hitting a brick wall with his face, he stood for a moment stunned by the beauty of the gleaming red train before him. He would likely have stood there longer, but Ron, the woman's youngest son, came through the barrier and crashed into him. Embarrassed, James quickly helped Ron right his cart, before retreating to the train.

It felt like a short time later that the train started to move and Ron stuck his head into James' compartment, "Anyone sitting here? Everywhere else is full." James, still a bit embarrassed that Ron had run into him, simply waved Ron over to the other bench. "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley; and you are?"

"James Evans." James replied automatically (ten years habit is hard to break in a month… especially if you don't want to). Just then the door opened again and Ron's twin brothers popped in to ask if he wanted to go see their friend Lee's pet tarantula. From Ron's shaky response, James thought Ron might have a bit of a case of arachnophobia, something James himself could never have after spending most of his life sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs. To be polite, the twins decided to also ask James if he wanted to go, but when James shook his head the twins must have caught sight of the lightning bolt scar on James' forehead. After an interesting verbal tennis match between the twins culminating in them calling James, "Harry Potter." Ron angrily asked James why he'd said his name was "James Evans"? James answered that his name was James Evans but apparently also Harry Potter. The twins left a short time later (probably to go spread the word that Harry Potter was on the train), and Ron started asking all sorts of really inappropriate questions about "You-Know-Who" and the night James' parents were murdered, the only reason James new anything at all about what Ron was asking about was the extra books James had picked up during his shopping excursions over the last month. After about the twentieth questions about "You-Know-Who," James turned to Ron and asked simply, "Who is 'You-Know-Who' anyway?" Which got Ron to shut up since he couldn't bring himself to say the name.

The peace was short lived though, as person after person barged in arrogantly demanding attention. The first was the bushy-haired girl from Gringott's asking if they'd seen a toad, they had since several students had them, but couldn't help her find the one she was looking for. Next was the kid James had talked to for a bit in Madam Malkin's, Draco Malfoy, who then proceeded to insult James and Ron before expecting James to accept his hand in friendship; James declined. James was looking at his glasses trying to figure out a better temporary repair than the tape he currently had on them when the bushy-haired girl, who finally said her name was Hermione Granger, returned and promptly cast a 'Repairo' charm on James' glasses. Not that he wasn't grateful, but when James asked if they were allowed to do that on the train since he'd read the admonishment in the front of all of their schoolbooks that stated doing magic outside of school under the age of seventeen was illegal, she promptly looked panicked and ran away.

When the five minute warning sounded and all students were told to leave their luggage on the train, James pulled out his shrunken trunk and pulled out a light travel cloak before putting the trunk into the overhead stowage rack.

"Aren't you going to put on your robes?" Ron asked.

"Why?" James replied, "Those are work robes for class, we don't need them anywhere else. Haven't you read the school charter or student handbook?"

Ron looked dumbfounded for a minute but didn't reply.

Once they had dismounted the train, Hagrid led the first-years to boats crossing the Black Lake (and James was glad he'd thought to pick up some swim wear). The majestic sight of the ancient magical castle coming into view for the first time was supposed to be an awe inspiring sight, but the moment was ruined by the bushy-haired girl who kept spouting off random facts and wouldn't shut up. James thought at first that she might be a bit afraid of the water, but it kept up all the way to the castle so who knows.

 _ **\- Author's Note -**_

I'm a little surprised that no one mentioned the "Mage" comment in Dumbledore's letter to the Dursleys. I've listed below a few definitions I'll be using in this story (also… note the updated title for the story).

Now I thought I'd go up to Halloween on this segment, but it was getting to long so that will be next. Enjoy!

 _ **Definitions**_

Wizard/Witch - Wizards are the nerds of the magic world; they gain magic power through the study of obscure tomes and detailed analysis of verbal, somatic and material components. That is, determining why certain words, movements, and components have a magical effect on the world.

Sorcerer/Sorceress - Sorcerers use charisma to shape the universe according to their will. A great sorcerer is like a great athlete, they don't need to do vector calculus to move a ball from point A to point B, simply willing it to happen.

Warlock - Users of a Magical Pact access to power through an intermediary. There are a lot of reasons a patron might select a mortal host, maybe your patron wants an agent in the corporeal plane, maybe your patron is taking something from you in exchange, or maybe your patron just wants the good laugh of watching someone with unearned power see how far they can go.

Enchanter/Enchantress - A Specialist in Item Magic, Charms and Illusions.

Druid/Druidess - A Specialist in Nature Magic (Plants and Animals) and Runic Magic.

Necromancer - A Specialist in Death Magic - outlawed.

Chronomancer - A Specialist in Time Magic - restricted to the Department of Mysteries.

Mage - A generic magic user.

Magician - A muggle, slight-of-hand trickster.

Muggle - A non-mage person.

Muggleborn - A mage born from two non-mages. Muggleborns are sometimes referred derogatively to as "Mudbloods."

Half-blood - A mage born from either a muggle or muggleborn mage and a "full" or "pure" mage. Half-bloods are sometimes referred derogatively to as "Halflings."

Full Blood - A mage with four mage grandparents.

Pure Blood - A mage descended from a long line of "full" mages.

Squib - A non-mage born to two mage parents.


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwart

_Summery – The 'Boy-Who-Lived'… never heard of Harry Potter, and it's all Albus Dumbledore's fault._

 _Disclaimer – J.K. Rowling, I am not… there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you've probably read before if you're reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 3 - Welcome to Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts…**_

When they reached the castle, Hagrid pulled a toad out of his coat and asked if anyone had lost it, to which a heavy set boy, who would have fit in perfectly with Dudley's gang had it not been for the blissful look on his face, called out "Trevor!" and raced forward slowly with his arms outstretched. James just shook his head sadly as Hagrid knocked on the castle door three times.

The stern face of the tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes that opened the door, made James think she was not someone he wanted to cross. Then James found out she was the deputy headmistress who had sent him the school supply list, and he knew she was someone he definitely did not want to cross.

Professor McGonagall then led the first years into an antechamber to wait for a few minutes until the rest of the school was ready to receive them. Which James thought was odd, seeing as they had had at least the last six hours to prepare while the students were on the train. Several ghosts popped through the room frightening several of the new students, while other kids were frightening themselves with tales of fighting trolls and such to get sorted into their school houses. James didn't know how it was done, but as long as he wasn't sent back to the Dursleys, he honestly didn't care.

It didn't take long before they were led into the Great Hall and Hermione started spouting off random trivia knowledge again (James was starting to think it was a nervous habit instead of a phobia). Professor McGonagall then had them line up in front of the Head Table where they all stood staring at a patched, frayed, raggedy, and extremely dirty old hat sitting on a three legged stool. James briefly thought about the magician he'd once briefly seen at the local park in Surrey before his aunt had freaked out and rushed him and Dudley away. But then the thing started croaking out a song about the houses of Hogwarts and how it was the Sorting Hat that would place them where they should go. James smiled weakly as Ron burst out that he was going to kill Fred for going on about wrestling a troll.

One by one, apparently in alphabetical order, Professor McGonagall called each of the new students forward to put on the hat. When she hit the Fs, James figured out they had him down as Potter, much to his annoyance. Hermione Granger became a Gryffindor, as did the toad boy, Neville Longbottom, and then Draco Malfoy became a Slytherin, and James knew his turn was rapidly approaching. When Professor McGonagall called out "Harry Potter" the Great Hall erupted in muted whispers like little hissing fires. Just as she was about to drop the hat on his head, he firmly told her, "It's James."

"Hmm," a small voice in his ear said. "Difficult. Very Difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either, and talent! Oh my goodness, yes… now that's interesting… so where to put you? Slytherin would help you on your way to greatness, no doubt, but when these secrets come out – better be GRYFFINDOR!"

James took off the hat after it shouted the last word to the whole of the Great Hall, and went to join the other Gryffindors where he saw Ron's twin brothers bouncing around happily and chanting "We got Potter!" Shortly after that, Ron sat down across from him (having become another of the newest class of Gryffindors), and the last of the remaining first years was sorted into Slytherin. Then Headmaster Dumbledore stood up to address the assembled students.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words; And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

"Is he – a bit mad?" James wondered absently.

James was a little surprised when the prefect next to him, one of Ron's older brothers, replied airily, "Mad? He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

James didn't even notice that he'd been called 'Harry' again, as he sat staring at more food than he thought would be the sum total of all the food he'd ever eaten in his life with the Dursleys… and that was just on the Gryffindor table. About halfway through the meal James was looking at the various professors at the Head Table and trying to guess what classes they taught when the greasy haired man, next to Professor Quirrell (who James had met in the Leaky Cauldron) scowled at him and the scar on his forehead burst in pain for a moment. When James asked, the prefect helpfully supplied that that was Professor Snape, the potions master.

After the meal, the Headmaster stood to address the students once more, warning them that the Forbidden Forest was still forbidden and that the third floor corridor on the left hand side was out-of-bounds to any who did not wish to die a most painful death. The problem with these instructions, James thought, was determining which was the left-hand side (ascending or descending) and the fact that he was addressing teenagers who are prone to go anywhere they know danger exists (such as oil wells and electrical substations). He would have been better off saying North side and left off the death threat entirely, but then Hogwarts, a History said that compasses didn't work on the grounds (something about the area being unplotable prevented it). He then led the school in singing the school song, which started off with "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please," and went downhill from there.

Percy, the prefect who'd been nearly as bad as Hermione about spouting off trivia all through the feast, led the first years up to the Gryffindor Tower and explained the dorms to them with a warning that boys were not allowed in the girls' dorms before sending them off to bed. James was rather confused when he got to the first year boys dorms to find four beds for the five of them and the other boys trunks at the foot of each. James went back down to the common room looking for a prefect, at the same time Hermione came down asking why Harry's trunk was in the girls dorm room. Needless to say, but James was annoyed as Percy went in search of Professor McGonagall to correct the situation.

* * *

The next morning at Breakfast, James was a bit tired (having slept in the common room and being awakened at the crack of dawn by Ron's twin brothers who started calling him, Jamie). Hermione was reading the Daily Prophet and commenting that the goblins at Gringott's were upgrading their security after someone broke in but didn't steal anything at the end of July, then proceeded to bemoan the fact that the goblins kept returning her letters about the merits of a base ten monetary system, unopened.

James was beginning to suspect that the people in charge of Hogwarts really didn't want to teach students. His classes were scattered throughout the huge structure with over a hundred and forty staircases that moved (some of which had parts that would vanish as you tried to use them); Besides that, the other students were still pointing and whispering about his scar whenever they caught a glimpse of him, and half the professors right alongside them (which was very annoying); And then there were the classes themselves. Having studied a bit before school started, James knew there was more to magic than simply waving his wand and saying a few funny words, but they were belaboring the point (probably for the sake of Neville who couldn't remember anything and Seamus who couldn't pronounce anything). James was sure Hermione was almost as bored as he was, but she loved answering questions. You also had a monotonous ghost quietly teaching history, and poor Professor Quirrell who could probably teach his class in less than a third of the time if it weren't for his abysmal stutter.

James did like Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, though she was very strict as he'd suspected when he'd first seen her, she was clever and even somewhat amusing while she was teaching which helped her students learn easier. He also liked little Professor Flitwick, who must have been part goblin, who was similar to Professor McGonagall in teaching style while not as strict, and for some reason had no trouble calling him James instead of Harry, but did occasionally call him Miss Potter for some reason, much to his fellow students' amusement.

One of the few things about growing up with the Dursleys that James had actually liked, was cooking; So he was looking forward to Potions on Friday morning (unlike most of his classmates).

Professor Snape started off class calling roll, but paused towards the end and said with a sneer, "Ah yes, Harry Potter. Our new – _celebrity_."

"Please, sir. I prefer James." James replied quickly. To which Professor Snape's sneer turned more towards disgust.

"Five points from Gryffindor for interrupting, Potter." Draco Malfoy and his friends sniggered behind their hands. Ignoring the rest of roll call, Professor Snape launched into a speech not very subtly implying that most of them were "dunderheads."

"Potter!" Professor Snape called out suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered Root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"

"I don't know, sir"

"Tut, tut, clearly fame isn't everything." Snape said cutting James off.

"Sir, I don't know what those two by themselves would get you, but Quaffable Quandaries: A guide to NEWT level potions says that they, along with Valerian Root, Sopophorous Bean Juice, and Sloth Brain, make the Draught of Living Death potion."

Snape glared at James, ignoring Hermione who had her hand in the air next to him. "Where, Potter, would you look if I told you to find me a Bezoar?"

"I'm not sure, sir. I don't think I read about a potion ingredient called that."

"What is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane, Potter?"

'Aren't they the same thing?' James thought to himself, "I… don't know, sir. But it looks like Hermione does, perhaps you could ask her?" She was practically standing waving her hand in the air by this point.

"Sit down." Snape snapped at Hermione. "For your information, a Bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons. As for Monkshood and Wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name Aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying this down?" Snape swept his gaze across the rest of the class, "and another five points will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

By the end of the class, James was absolutely sure Snape hated Gryffindors in general and him specifically, but had no idea why; So much for liking Potions class.

* * *

The following Thursday saw them to their last new class of the year, Broomstick 101, with the Slytherins (unfortunately). While Neville looked like he's fit in with Dudley's gang back in Surrey, Malfoy had the attitude and was quickly making his last name into an expletive among the first year Gryffindors. When Neville's nerves got the better of him and he broke his wrist, Madam Hooch took him off to the Hospital Wing with a threat of expulsion should anyone touch their brooms while she was gone. This however didn't stop Malfoy from taking the Rememberall Neville had gotten from home that morning and flying off with it.

James, while never having much of anything of his own, despised thieves almost as much as murderers and rapists (they all take something from you, but at least with thieves you have a chance of getting it back). Despite it being his first time on a broom, James felt like he was born for flying as he shot off after Malfoy, the old school broom handling perfectly. When Malfoy threw the small glass sphere, intending to smash it against the stonework of the castle, or at least put it through a window, James rocketed off catching it inches from destruction. Professor McGonagall however was standing on the other side of the window staring at him with that stern expression she usually wore, and not a minute later was calling him to follow her back into the castle.

James wanted to defend himself as he followed the stern professor through the castle, but he just didn't know what to say. James had no idea what was going on when Professor McGonagall stopped outside the Charms classroom to ask Professor Flitwick to borrow Wood. At first he wondered if Hogwarts practiced corporal punishment in the form of swats, but thankfully it turned out to be the name of another boy; which just confused James even further. She led them to an empty classroom a little further up the hall (well empty once she shooed Peeves the Poltergeist out of the room), she then turned to the two boys.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found you a Seeker!"

"Are you serious, Professor?" Wood asked, while James thought the same question (although for different reasons).

"Absolutely. Was that your first time on a broom, Potter?" she asked him.

James nodded mutely, having no idea what was going on, and not ten minutes later Wood was leading him across the lawn to Hogwarts' Quidditch Pitch. Upside, he wasn't getting expelled; however he seemed to have been drafted onto the house sports team.

The whispered buzz around the school was renewed with a fervor over him becoming the youngest seeker in a century. He just wished everyone would shut up about it. 'If wishes were raindrops,' James thought, then just sighed and continued on his way. Malfoy, being Malfoy, was pissed that James wasn't getting expelled and challenged him to a Wizard's Duel at Midnight. Ron, being Ron, accepted on James' behalf. And James… decided to let those two handle the situation without him.

James was glad he blew off Malfoy's Midnight Duel when Ron came into the common room the next morning spitting mad that Malfoy hadn't even shown up, he'd nearly been caught by Filch, and almost killed by a huge three-headed dog, even though Ron was mad at James for not going in the first place. Yes, James was very glad he'd blown that off.

It took nearly a month of scratching out Evans and putting Potter at the top of his homework before James started getting it on there the first time, and by the end of October he hardly ever wrote Evans anymore. He only made the effort because none of the professors would accept anything from him without that name on it, much to James' consternation, but he was getting used to it.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I just realized I had a typo in the summery… but right now I'm too tired and/or lazy to repost the first two segments just to correct that.

So now… Ron and Hermione, who are more acquaintances than friends right now, have encountered Fluffy, but James has not… anyone want to take a guess as to how that will alter things?

Next time… Halloween, Quidditch, and Christmas… enjoy!


	4. Holiday Hijinks with Friends

_Summery – The 'Boy-Who-Lived'… never heard of Harry Potter, and it's all Albus Dumbledore's fault._

 _Disclaimer – J.K. Rowling, I am not… there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you've probably read before if you're reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 ** _Segment 4 – Holiday Hijinks with Friends_**

James really loved the Nimbus 2000 Professor McGonagall had sent him about a week after he'd been drafted onto the Quidditch team, and spent nearly every free minute, not spent doing homework or in class, high up in the air over the castle. Oliver had taken James to the trophy room after their first practice and shown him several trophies James' father had won as both Seeker and Chaser back in the Seventies, and claimed that Quidditch was in James' blood. While James still wasn't sure about Quidditch, he could certainly agree that flying was in his blood, and chose to give the game his best effort.

Malfoy, being a petty brat, started hexing James whenever he thought he could get away with it; so lunch time on Fridays after double Potions with the Slytherins tended to find James in the middle of some kind of prank or other embarrassing situation. So when he found himself sitting down to lunch in the Great Hall on Thursday, the 31st of October for a quick bite to eat before Charms class, wearing bright, pink robes, James hardly even blinked. So while Malfoy was laughing it up with Crabbe and Goyle, and the other Slytherins appeared to go along with him for the sake of appearances, most of the school had grown a bit bored with the pranks and chose to ignore it.

When James reached the Charms classroom however, thing just gave him a whole new reason to dislike Halloween.

"Good Afternoon class," Professor Flitwick started, then turned to James and said, "Lovely robes, Miss Potter, but the school uniform is black."

"Yeah," James sighed, "these are too once the prank wears off."

"Regrettably that'll be a point from Gryffindor for you not being in uniform today." Professor Flitwick continued, as though not having heard James' reply. He then proceeded to lecture the class for half an hour on the levitation spell " _Wingardium Leviosa_ " before passing out feathers for the students to practice with.

When Seamus blew up the feather he and James were working with, James looked over to Ron and Hermione to see Ron waving his arms like a windmill before striking down swiftly and mispronouncing the incantation. James was a bit surprised that Ron didn't have something major backfire like Seamus had, but then Hermione waved him off and lectured him on the spell before showing off that she could do it easily earning Gryffindor five points. James did the spell fairly easily as well, but since he had had to wait for a replacement feather, he wasn't the first in the class to pull it off and was basically ignored by Professor Flitwick.

After class Ron said some rather rude comments about Hermione, causing the girl to run off in tears. James tried to follow, but was accosted by Fred and George.

"How'd you do it?" one asked.

"Flitwick never takes points," the other finished.

"Dunno," James answered picking at his still pink robes, "Maybe Malfoy had something to do with it."

Looking disappointed the two wondered off.

Hermione didn't show up to History of Magic class, which luckily for her the ghostly Professor Binns failed to notice (then again the rest of the class was basically asleep and he didn't notice that either), and James was beginning to really worry about the girl, she hadn't spouted off random trivia in the common room in over a week. So on the way down to the feast, James pulled Parvati aside to ask if Hermione's dorm mate knew where the girl was. Parvati told him she was in the girls' lavatory crying and wanting to be alone. Not really feeling like celebrating the day his parents were murdered, James went off to try and comfort the bookworm a bit.

"Hermione?" James called into the room when he located the girls' lavatory.

"Go… away…" Hermione replied with a hitch in her voice.

"No," James answered simply. "Look, Hermione, you may not believe me, but I know how you feel."

"That no one like you or wants you around?"

"Exactly. For as long as I can remember, Dudley… my cousin… would beat up anyone that even thought about trying to be nice to me. My teachers, aunt, and uncle would then punish me for aggravating my cousin. I still have no idea how that worked out."

"You're kidding." Hermione stated doubtfully.

"Nope, even have a few scars to prove it." James replied quietly.

It took a while for James to talk Hermione around to coming out of the bathroom, but was really surprised to see her eyes grow to the size of dinner plates when she stepped into the doorway before grabbing James by the robes and yanking him into the bathroom with her. While he couldn't make out Hermione's gibbering, her terrified look and continuous pointing to the doorway, as well as the terrible stench that suddenly filled the small room, clued him in to something being seriously amiss. Turning, James saw something he wished he'd never seen. With shuffling footsteps, the huge being with a really small head, ducked through the tall doorway into the bathroom, dragging its equally huge wooden club behind it.

James was all for hiding in the last stall, as the thing hadn't apparently noticed them yet (probably light blinded by the bright lights in the bathroom), but then Hermione let out a piercing scream of terror, enraging it. James barely pushed Hermione down into the stall while diving in the other direction as the creature swung its club destroying over half the room in a single swipe. James was silently thankful for Dudley's gang a few minutes later as, by some miracle and a lot of dodging, the creature hadn't managed to smash him into putty. James kept calling to Hermione to either run or distract it. When she finally managed to fire off a stinging hex into its ear, making it pause, he managed to cast the first thing that came to mind, levitating its already raised club out of its hand and dropping the massive thing on the creature's tiny head.

"Is it - dead?" Hermione asked shakily.

"I don't think so." James said when the creature snorted.

Just then Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, and James could see Professors Snape and Quirrell in the hallway just beyond the door. James had never seen her so angry. Her lips were white.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" she demanded of the two students standing before her. "You could have been killed! Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

"Dormitory?" James asked quietly, "Not at the feast?"

"He was looking for me, Professor." Hermione replied.

"Miss Granger!"

"I wasn't feeling well and James came to try to cheer me up."

"You weren't at the feast?" the professor looked slightly taken aback and shocked.

"Who'd want to celebrate the day their parents were murdered?" James commented. Snape glared at him for the comment but Professor McGonagall continued on as if not having heard.

"I must say, you were very lucky. Not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

On the way up to the tower, Hermione was pretty quiet, but just before they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady that guarded the tower entrance, she put a hand on James' shoulder.

"Thank you, James."

"Anytime." James replied easily, and then paused. "Say…Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to be… friends?"

"I think I'd like that James."

"Me too."

As they entered November, the weather turned abruptly cold and James was a bit depressed. Even though the Dursleys had never celebrated his birthday, or even given him a gift worth of the title, he had always been told that his birthday was November 1st… now he knew better, but that knowledge didn't really help any. Reading and talking with Hermione helped a bit though, as did thoughts of the upcoming game, the first match of the Quidditch season – Gryffindor vs Slytherin, which he'd get to play in the next day.

As James raced through the last of his homework that night, Hermione dropped a book in his lap.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Quidditch through the Ages. I thought you might like to read it when I saw it in the Library."

"Thanks Hermione."

And it was an interesting read, even detailing the seven hundred different fouls they had managed to do in the 1473 World Cup match.

* * *

James wasn't hungry that Saturday morning, and by ten o'clock he was debating resigning from the team before the match started at eleven; but he managed to stick it out. While changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes, Oliver tried to make a pep-talk speech, but the others (who seemed to have learned from the Weasley twins how to talk) kept saying every other line for him. James found this highly amusing and forgot all about his nervousness about the match; but Oliver glared at them until Katie stepped up to him, kissed him on the cheek, and pushed him out the door.

Madam Hooch was referring the match (supposedly), but it seemed that Lee Jordan could see more of what was going on from the announcer box than she could from the sky. After several blatant fouls, that she couldn't help but call, and a dozen others she conveniently 'didn't see.' James took to gliding around a bit higher over the action than he really wanted to when suddenly he broom jerked to a stop. All of his focus shifted to the piece of wood he was sitting on nearly eighty feet in the air, trying to figure out what was wrong and get moving again. None of his team mates noticed his dilemma, but that's hardly surprising seeing as they were working hard to do their own jobs and overcome the very Slytherin bias being shown by the referee. Just then, the broom started rolling over and bucking (like it was trying to shake him off) and he wound up hanging by one hand when he noticed the tiny, Golden Snitch he was supposed to be looking for not far below him. Taking a deep breath, James let go of his broom and somehow managed to land on Madam Hooch's instead of breaking quite a few bones hitting the ground. She was about to start shouting penalties at him when he spit the Snitch into his open hand ending the game.

"Jamie Potter has the snitch!" Lee cried excitedly saw that James had the elusive little ball, "Gryffindor Wins! 170 to 60."

That evening, during the party, Ron approached them and said, "Hey Hermione, you're smart. Ever heard of a bloke named Nicolas Flamel?"

"Maybe, but I don't really recall off hand. Why?" She replied.

"Just trying to figure out what Fluffy's guarding."

"Who's Fluffy?" James asked him; which led Ron into a long rant about what happened the night of the Midnight Duel that wasn't.

* * *

As Christmas was approaching, James and Hermione had no luck finding out any information in Nicholas Flamel. Which was a little depressing for the two of them, but they were still rather hopeful of finding something soon. Since James had no interest in returning to the Dursleys, he'd opted to remain at Hogwarts over the Christmas Break, to continue looking through the school's library, but Hermione was heading home to be with her parents, promising to check out the local library in Devon, and maybe hit the book stores in Diagon Alley. The dropping temperatures outside seemed to creep ever further into the castle, especially into the dungeons where they were to have their last Potions class of the year before most of the student body headed for home, on the 21st.

"I do feel so sorry," Malfoy said loudly, just before class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

James smiled happily, "I'm just sorry for all the kids who have to go home because their parents don't trust them enough to have three weeks of vacation to themselves."

"I am looking forward to getting home," Hermione countered, "but having all that free time while my parents are off at work will be nice as well."

Malfoy glowered at them for the rest of the class for not being insulted. Surprisingly, James only lost ten points during that class instead of the usual twenty. Snape must have been in a good mood, which rather worried James.

Once the holidays had started, Ron started teaching James Wizards Chess. It was surprisingly like Dudley's **Battle Chess** computer game that, even though it was on the easiest setting, always 'cheated' to beat him. James learned quickly, but could never beat Ron for some reason, not that either of them complained. Being the only two in their dorm room they sort of had to start getting along better.

James hadn't expected any presents when he awoke on Christmas morning, and was surprised to see three packages on his bed.

"Merry Christmas" Ron said sleepily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Look at this. I've got presents!"

James missed Ron's look of incredulity, "what did you expect, turnips?"

James opened the first parcel, a large box of chocolate frogs from Hermione and laughed, thinking how this gift would go over in the house of dentists. The second, shockingly, was from his aunt and uncle with a short note:

 **Boy,**

 **We received your message and have enclosed your present. Since you've managed to survive this long you can keep on doing it elsewhere.**

 **Vernon Dursley**

"Well… that's friendly." James muttered, tossing it and the fifty-pence piece it contained aside. When Ron appeared fascinated by the muggle money, James told him to keep it since it "wasn't worth a Knut."

The last parcel was a bundle of silvery cloth that felt similar to silk but even more watery. It too came with a note:

 **Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you.**

 **Use it well.**

"What's that?" Ron asked opening his fifth or sixth present.

"Dunno… looks like some kind of cloak."

"Well. Try it on."

At that moment, Ron strongly reminded James of Dudley demanding more gifts, but James chose to comply, only to receive a shock as his body appeared to disappear, and then be blindsided as Ron pounced on him.

"That's an invisibility cloak, that is. They're really rare… and really valuable. Who sent it to you?"

"The note didn't say who sent it; but it belonged to my father"

"Wicked!"

Even though James was starting to get along well with Ron, he made sure to lock his trunk securely before heading down to breakfast with the others.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Please note (before you start complaining about James, Ron, and Hermione not being the Golden Trio you know and love), James has been studying more and not really focused on trying to make friends; the lessons Dudley beat into him and the punishments doled out to anyone that even attempted to be friendly towards James, saw to that. Hermione after Halloween, and Ron during the Christmas Break, start to change that. So you will be getting a Golden Trio… but they will still not be quite what you've probably come to expect.

Also note (for those wondering why some characters are being glossed over or really haven't appeared yet), This story is from James' point of view primarily and I'm trying to follow the books fairly closely for Year 1 at least. But things are really starting to change here, so hopefully you'll find this an enjoyable alternative reality to the one JKR made up.

Lastly, FanFiction accounts are free… it's much easier to reply via PM than to make a long "response" posting like this (so I won't do it often in the story).

 ** _Responses to Reviews_**

Since I know others are asking the same questions (more or less) here goes…

ChocoMeoka-Chan – I'm still not sure of the update "schedule." I'm just posting the stuff as I get it written and since I don't really care all that much for the first book (I read way to much fan fiction covering it) I'm sort of rushing through it a bit. I'll probably slow down a little once I'm in Year 2 and a few of the major changes start showing up.

bluestorm28 – the Answer to your question is "No." That said… you won't really find out until nearly the return to Hogwarts in Year 2.

Guest – James had never heard of Harry Potter before the Hogwarts letters started showing up and Hagrid told him about his parents. To James, his last name has always been Evans (we as readers know otherwise), so it's taking some time for him to adjust to the new name.


	5. That Which is Hidden

_Summery_ _–_ _The_ _'_ _Boy-Who-Lived_ _'…_ _never heard of Harry Potter, and it_ _'_ _s all Albus Dumbledore's fault._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer_ _'_ _s Stone in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 5**_ _ **–**_ _ **That Which is Hidden**_

The next few days after Christmas didn't see James wandering about the castle at all hours. Although he did find several things during his unseen journeys, that he hadn't expected, such as a book in the Restricted Section of the library that screamed bloody murder when opened. The most interesting one by far though, was a mirror.

James found the mirror to be rather perplexing, especially after he figured out to reverse the legend: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi," so that it read simply, "I show not your face but your heart's desire." Evidently, James heart's desire looked like a bunch of people, many of them slightly faded into the background but it was the four in the front that really drew his attention. On the left stood a man that looked very much like James, but with brown eyes, and on the right was a very pretty woman with James eyes and long dark red hair. James assumed these to be the reflections of his parents and would have been very happy to stare at them for hours. Between his parents, he saw two girls standing with their arms around each other. One of the two looked very much like Hermione, but with tamed hair. The other however, was the very confusing person.

James stared at the girl wondering who she might be. She had his mother's eyes and was very pretty as well, but her long, silky, black tresses looked nothing like his own unruly hair. Was she a sister or cousin he'd never heard about? Not that he would put it past the Dursleys to purposely omit any knowledge about the Potters, but James really wanted to know who the girl was.

"So – back again, Harry?" A voice said behind him the third night James sat looking at the people in the mirror.

"I – didn't see you, sir." James replied when he turned to see Headmaster Dumbledore standing in the shadows.

"Strange how near-sighted being invisible can make one," Dumbledore quipped. "I trust by now you have realized what that mirror does?"

"It shows us our desires, but… I'm curious, do you know of a black haired girl that looks like my mother?"

"Ah… Lillian I think her name was, yes. So tragic. Died the same night as your parents I believe."

James began to worry for Hermione, if everyone in the mirror was dead, was she still safe?

"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry." Dumbledore continued, but was quietly interrupted.

"It's James, sir."

Eyes twinkling as he smiled at James, Dumbledore just continued on as if James hadn't said anything, "I ask that you not go looking for it again, but if you ever do run across the Mirror of Erised again, you will now be prepared."

'Prepared? Prepared for what? And way doesn't anyone ever accept that my name is JAMES?' James thought angrily.

"Now why don't you put on that admirable cloak and head off to bed," the Headmaster finished before fading from sight.

"I don't think I will ever understand that man," James muttered as he drew on his father's cloak and left for Gryffindor Tower.

When Hermione came back the day before the new term started, James was very relieved. He'd started having nightmares about his parents and a pale, sickly green light. The thought that everyone he'd seen in the mirror was dead had been haunting him, so he was very happy to find it was just bad dreams.

Luckily, while James excursions through the castle hadn't turned up anything on Nicholas Flamel, Hermione wasn't so unlucky. Evidently, Nicholas and his wife Perenelle were over six hundred years old and still living in Devon, not far from Hermione in fact. Although she didn't get the chance to meet with Mr. Flamel, she did find out that he was the only one to have ever successfully made a Sorcerer's Stone, which is how he and his wife had lived so long. Ron was ecstatic about the thought of the Stone being in the school, not for its life prolonging abilities, but for the other power the stone is said to possess, namely, being able to turn any metal into pure gold. It was really kind of sad, in James' opinion, how hung up that boy was on fame and fortune.

* * *

With the mystery of what Fluffy is guarding out of the way, James and Hermione settled back into their studies, which for James Quidditch practice as well. Oliver was becoming increasingly obsessed, right up until three days before their match with Hufflepuff.

"They can't do this!" Oliver cried, looking at the notice board. "Madam Hooch was bad, but at least she tried to appear unbiased."

"What is it Oli?" Katie asked from their usual seats in the corner.

"The referee for –"

"Our next match is – "

"SNAPE!" the Weasley twins shouted as they too read the notice board.

"Gryffindor will overtake Slytherin for the championship for the first time in seven years if we beat Hufflepuff," James told Hermione, who had a puzzled look on her face, "There's no way will Snape let us win."

"We'll just have to play a really clean game so Snape can't penalize us much." Oliver said.

"Since when did Snape need an excuse to penalize us?" was Angelina's rejoinder.

"Yeah," Alicia muttered, then turned to James, "You better catch that Snitch fast, Jamie, or we're sunk."

James had pushed back some when the Twins had started calling him Jamie, but ever since Lee shouted it to the whole school during the first match, the nickname had spread throughout the place like wildfire, and, like using the name Potter, he was becoming so used to hearing it he hardly even noticed anymore.

The actual match however, was nowhere near as bad as they had feared. True, Snape awarded Hufflepuff three penalty shots in the first three minutes of the game (two of which for no reason what-so-ever), but Oliver blocked two of those and James, streaking past Snape by mere inches, snagged the Snitch in just over five minutes of gameplay. While Snape spat bitterly on the ground and stormed off, the others on the team were elated and talking about it possibly being the record for the fastest Snitch Catch ever. James was just glad it was over.

James had decided to take a flight after the match to calm his nerves, when he noticed a strange black figure racing down the steps and straight into the Forbidden Forest. He knew he shouldn't, but he followed quietly from above and witnessed a strange confrontation between Snape and Professor Quirrell; and from what James could gather from it, it appeared that Snape was going to try stealing the Stone, but didn't know how to get past Fluffy, and still was gathering information on the other obstacles protecting it.

A few weeks later, Ron came back to the tower from having visited Hagrid, claiming the Grounds Keeper was planning to hatch a dragon's egg. Not that they didn't believe Ron, but James and Hermione decided to investigate the claim for themselves (all the rest of the Gryffindors either didn't believe him or were just as excited at having a dragon on the grounds as Ron was).

When they reached Hagrid's wooden hut, they found it boarded up tight and thick clouds of smoke billowing out of the chimney. Hagrid answered when they knocked, but was acting really cagey and didn't want to let them inside. When they asked about where he got the dragon's egg, he replied that he won it in a card game (not even realizing he'd just admitted to having said dragon's egg), and then proceeded to tell the two of them how to get past Fluffy. After which he was so shocked by his own lapse in keeping that a secret that he booted them back to the castle.

That night, James decided it was time to try out his father's cloak again, and sent an anonymous owl to the Ministry about Hagrid's egg. From what he and Hermione had read about the majestic creatures, he didn't want one within a hundred miles of anything he owned… especially if he was wearing it at the time. Hermione was a little disappointed in James for telling on Hagrid, but agreed that it was the best course of action. When she asked why he'd done it anonymously, he asked her if she really thought any adult would seriously listen to an eleven year-old.

About a week after that, Headmaster Dumbledore stood before the students assembled in the Great Hall for dinner and stated that it was his sad duty to announce that Hagrid was no longer on staff. Then joked that if any of the seventh year students in Care of Magical Creatures were interested in applying for the job they would need to do well on their NEWTs. Although Dumbledore appeared as happy as always; if you looked really close you could see the red glint of anger in the twinkling of his eyes.

* * *

Surprisingly to James, after the fall term, little else happened during the weeks leading up to the year-end exams. James and Hermione were joined by Ron in checking on the third floor corridor (to hear if Fluffy was still growling in there) or following Snape around whenever they could. Not only did this let them keep tabs on the grouchy potioneer, but had the added benefit of annoying the man in a way that he couldn't take points from them for.

Due to the Fifth years taking OWLs and the Seventh years taking NEWTS, the year-end exams were spread across nearly two full weeks, which Hermione was both bemoaning for being so stretched out and panicking over as she tried to revise herself to death. Ron was taking pretty close to the opposite approach, lazing about ignoring that the exams were happening then trying to cram everything he should have learned that year into his head overnight, right before the exam. James however was fairly confident in his knowledge, and trying to calm Hermione down by helping her revise, but not stressing over the impending exams.

James found most of the exams rather fun, especially the individual or small group practical portions where he'd made a pineapple tap-dance for Professor Flitwick and turned a mouse into a snuffbox for Professor McGonagall. He was fairly certain he'd brewed the Forgetfulness potion properly for Snape, but the way the man glared at James through the whole thing had made him a bit nervous. James wondered how Neville had handled that exam, but refrained from asking. James was distracted all through the last test, History of Magic, due to his scar throbbing, and was sure he'd only answered about half the questions when time was called. He hoped it was enough.

After the test, the three of them headed down to the lake to relax for a little while, when Hermione asked about James rubbing his scar.

"It keeps burning," he muttered.

"Go see Madam Pomfrey."

"I'm not sick… I think it's a warning. That danger is coming."

Hermione didn't believe that for a second, "Fine then. Go see Dumbledore; he'll know what to do."

Since James couldn't argue his was out of it, ten minutes later found the three of them standing before Professor McGonagall's desk in the Transfiguration classroom, asking to see Dumbledore. When she informed them that the Headmaster had been called away to London, and asked what they wanted. James quickly slapped a hand over Ron's mouth as Hermione begged their leave of the Deputy Headmistress.

"Why didn't you tell her about Snape trying for the Stone?" Ron asked indignantly when they reached the hall.

To which Hermione supplied him with a slightly reworded version of James' question to her from earlier in the spring, "Do you think she'd believe a few eleven and twelve year-olds?"

Ron as usual looked dumbfounded by logic.

"We'll just have to get it first," James said simply, "come on."

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked.

"To the tower, have to grab some supplies. By the way, how's your singing voice?"

"Not great, but Parvati has an enchanted harp I hope she doesn't mind us borrowing."

"Good idea."

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Next time… the conclusion of Year 1

I might start adding a few other peoples' perspectives on a few parts in the future… haven't decided yet.

OWLs – Ordinary Wizarding Levels

NEWTs – Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests


	6. What's Your End-game?

_Summery_ _–_ _The_ _'_ _Boy-Who-Lived_ _'…_ _never heard of Harry Potter, and it_ _'_ _s all Albus Dumbledore's fault._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer_ _'_ _s Stone in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 6**_ _ **–**_ _ **What's Your End-game?**_

While James was all for going to Fluffy's place right then, they hit a few snags along the way. Parvati refused to let Hermione borrow her harp, but she did manage to talk Alicia into loaning her a flute so they were good on that front. Filch had apparently decided to guard the doorway to the third floor corridor as well. So the trio found themselves down in the Great Hall having dinner and pondering what to do next.

"Filchint stay t'air the holtim, canne?" Ron asked randomly. James and Hermione could barely understand him through all the food in his mouth.

'Why are we friends again?' James thought as he tried to translate the mush into, "Filch can't stay there the whole time, can he?" to which, "Doubt it," James finally replied, "he's still has to do his job."

"Then how will we…?" Hermione started.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I've got that part covered." James answered quickly, just then realizing that she hadn't seen his father's cloak yet.

"Well at least Snape hasn't gone yet," Hermione muttered, tilting her head slightly to indicate the greasy-haired git still sitting at the Head Table.

When Hermione saw the cloak James pulled out after dinner, when the trio hid in an unused classroom, she was suitably impressed with it; and a bit disturbed that someone would such a thing to a boy still in school. Thus hidden, they made their way to see Fluffy, unseen. The corridors were mostly empty, and they had no problems until they reached the top of the stairs to the third floor corridor.

They weren't sure they wanted to know what Peeves was doing there, but when he suddenly spun around demanding to, "Who's there?" They started to panic a little. "Should call Filch, I should. If something's a-creep-ing around unseen."

Thinking quickly, James spoke in a hoarse whisper, "the Baron has his own reasons for going unseen. Be gone!"

Peeves was emotionally falling all over himself in his haste to apologize before fleeing to be somewhere, anywhere, that he thought the Bloody Baron wasn't.

Ron stared at James for a moment after Peeves left, "Jamie, that was Brilliant. Can't wait to hear what the Twins will think of it."

"Preferably nothing," James answered, "as we aren't officially doing this, no one can know anything about it… Right?"

Hermione nodded under the cloak, "Right!"

Ron looked defeated, "Okay."

James' first sight of Fluffy was, frankly, terrifying. The fifteen foot tall, three headed, puppy would have been rather cute if it wasn't snarling, fifteen feet tall, and blocking their way. Alicia's enchanted flute had the big boy dozing peacefully within seconds.

"Well… that was easy." James said as he and Ron moved Fluffy's paw off the trapdoor, "Shall we?"

The protections guarding the Stone were laughably easy, the trio thought. After Fluffy, they had had to use a slightly modified _Lumos_ spell, that anyone that had read the chapter notes in the first year Charms textbook would know how to cast, to use sunlight on some Devil's Snare, then work their way through a rune filled hallway by only stepping on specific letters, which was tricky because they didn't know what the runes were, but not too hard once they figured out that the ones they were to use looked like, if it had been a word or phrase they had had to know, the trio would have been force to give up. The first indication of trouble however was when they reached an old door with a broom sitting next to it, and a multitude of winged keys flying overhead.

Normally this wouldn't indicate any trouble; however, the door was open already.

"Maybe they just forgot to close it?" Ron asked hopefully. The other two just looked at him as if he were stupid, before continuing on their journey without a verbal response.

They next encountered a gigantic chessboard, probably Professor McGonagall's contribution to the protection of the stone, but thankfully the trio contained Grandmaster Weasley (as his twin brothers liked to tease him). In Ron's arrogance, he decided to be a Knight instead of taking the place of the King as he should have. This resulted in Ron lying unconscious on the floor at the end of the game, and although James and Hermione wanted to take Ron straight to the Hospital Wing, they had a job to finish first.

The room after that was filled with an incredible stench the two of them recognized instantly, Mountain Troll. Quickly pulling the Invisibility Cloak over the two of them, James and Hermione quickly made their way past the pair of lumbering beasts, doing their best not to breathe in the horrific odor.

"Quirrell's, do you suppose?" James asked Hermione once they'd reached the next room, indicating the last room.

Once she'd regained her breath she answered, "Probably."

"So that would make this… Snape's," James muttered pointing to a small table with potions spilled all over it.

"Someone's definitely been here," Hermione said, stating the obvious.

"Looks like there's only one more room," James said glancing towards the far side from where they had entered. "Here," he continued handing over his father's cloak, "Take the cloak. Get Ron to the infirmary, and then get Professor McGonagall down here. I'll try to stall whoever's in there as long as I can, or at least try to figure out who got there first."

"You shouldn't go alone, Jamie."

"I'll be careful Hermione, but you're right… I'll probably need some help in there; and since Dumbledore's away, McGonagall is the next best thing. Please, Hermione."

Reluctantly, Hermione picked up the one potion that hadn't been spilled all over the place and walked back toward the room with the trolls, carefully pouring it over the purple fires there that were blocking her passage. With the fires out, she slipped on the cloak and disappeared from James' sight.

The person James saw when he stepped into the last room was not who he had been expecting, which came as something of a relief.

"You?"

The man turned to look at James, "Ah, Mr. Potter. I didn't think I'd see you here."

For some reason the gaunt, haunted look in Quirrell's eyes and his complete lack of stutter set James' nerves on edge, "But…"

"You thought it'd be Severus? Yes, he does seem the sort; Swooping around like some overgrown bat," Quirrell said with a laugh. "Now stand there like a good boy while I figure this out." With a wave of his hand James was bound in tight ropes making it very difficult to move. Quirrell went back to studying the mirror, muttering about seeing himself presenting his Master the Stone, and wondering how to get it.

'Is that… the Mirror of Erised?' James thought just before the voice of another man filled the room.

"Use the girl!"

"What?" James cried indigently, "Seriously, what is with people calling me a girl all the time?"

The ropes binding James released as he was dragged toward Quirrell, as if the 'Professor' couldn't keep the two spells functioning at the same time. Shoving James roughly before the mirror, Quirrell demanded, "Tell me Potter. What do you see?"

The image James saw was the same as before, his family surrounding a very pretty black haired girl and a slightly older looking Hermione, however this time the black haired girl winked and held her finger to her lips as Hermione appeared to giggle softly while reaching across the girl's body to put a red stone into her pants' pocket.

"What do you see?" Quirrell yelled again.

"I see… none of your business."

The blow Quirrell struck knocked James to the floor several feet away. "Arrogant brat, after my troll on Halloween and that little 'accident' at the Quidditch match failed to kill you, I chose to lay low for a bit. But since you're too curious for your own well-being, I'll finish you off once I have the Stone." He turned back to the Mirror, "I sometimes find it hard to follow my Master's wishes… but he is a great wizard and I am so weak… Lord Voldemort has chosen to go with me were ever I do… to make sure I obey."

James couldn't help himself but to interrupt Quirrell's rambling to ask, "Who?"

Quirrell snarled a curse, but then paled in fear as the other voice told him to let it speak to the girl, face to face. James wanted to snarl a curse himself, but was surprised when Quirrell turned away from him and started unwrapping the hideous, purple turban the 'Professor' always wore.

"James, but how?" where the next startled words the thing said.

James really didn't have the words to describe just how disturbingly ugly the face on the back of Quirrell's head was. It had glowing red eyes, snake like slits for nostrils, and no lips all covered in a haze of Quirrell's fine, sandy blonde hair as if he hadn't shaved it off in a few days. Then the thing ordered James to hand over the Stone… begged for the Stone… offered to resurrect James' parents for the stone… and finally, when Hermione fired a stunning spell at Quirrell from where she was hiding under the invisibility cloak and missed, had Quirrell try seizing James to just take the Stone. The pain in James' head was excruciating, he also felt something like a sucking sensation he couldn't understand, before he finally passed out.

* * *

When James awoke, he wasn't quite sure where he was, but heard Hermione telling someone how a dark mist had seemed to rise out of Quirrell and fly away leaving behind an unconscious James and a, somewhat charred, dead Professor Quirrell.

He blinked, and suddenly the smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him, with a cheery, "Good afternoon, Harry."

James moaned.

Dumbledore then proceeded to inform 'Harry' (as he wouldn't use any other name) about how he had talked the Flamels into destroying the Stone, and that he thought Voldemort would try to return to power some other way now. James was a little worried about that, as it seemed like Dumbledore had wanted Voldemort to get the Stone instead of having protected it. Given that three first-years managed to get the thing, James wouldn't have been surprised if that was exactly the case; the Headmaster had seemed a bit bored throughout the year, like he wanted someone to challenge him again. The Headmaster concluded with a speech about the power of love and how his mother's sacrifice had protected 'Harry'; which James didn't buy for an instant, but politely accepted from the old man.

James was released the next day, having missed the parting feast where Dumbledore awarded Gryffindor so many points that they won the house cup, despite Snape having insured they were in last place before the meal. The summer promised to be interesting. James had written Tom about renting a room for the summer and gotten a positive reply, so he wasn't worried about having to see the Dursleys at all; that hope was dashed however when Dumbledore decided to personally escort him 'home.'

 ** _-Author's Notes-_**

Thus concludes Year 1 – The Boy-Who-Lived… next up: Year 2 – The Door Marked F!

The cartoon Duck Tales and the video game Battle Chess were released in the late 80s, though I don't have a UK release date specifically, I figured that they probably made their way across the pond at some point within two years or so; Which will be my standard for any other pop-culture references I put in this story. And before you say it, yes the Runic Hallway was from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade… but, although Hermione might have been able to see the movie (released in 1989), the trio didn't know that.

Review and Enjoy! While a lack of reviews won't stop me writing, I do like hearing back from people.


	7. The Family Tree of Jamie Potter

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 1**_ _ **–**_ _ **The Family Tree of Jamie Potter**_

The meeting between Albus Dumbledore and Vernon Dursley could be described as: two arguments happening concurrently, in the same room, with none of the participants of one knowing that the other was happening. Uncle Vernon was huffing angrily when Dumbledore finished, but couldn't say anything to the man as Dumbledore chose that moment to smile and Disapperate away.

"BOY!"

"Yes Uncle Vernon?" James replied meekly.

"I'm warning you! I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY OF YOUR… ABNORMALITY, UNDER THIS ROOF!" Uncle Vernon shouted, his face turning purple.

Calmly replying, James said, "I understand Uncle, and have made other arrangements for the summer. Headmaster Dumbledore just doesn't know about them. Would you mind driving me to the Metro? It's a bit of a walk, but I can take it from there."

Aunt Petunia, fearing for Vernon's blood pressure, quickly pushed James out the door and drove him to the station.

A few hours later, well in advance of when the Hogwarts Express was due to arrive, James pushed his way into the Leaky Cauldron and picked up his room key from Tom and grab a bite to eat.

"Train get in early, James?" the barkeep asked, wondering if he should expect an influx of customers soon as he sat a sandwich in front of James.

James just shook his head, "Not that I know of Tom. Dumbledore decided to drop me off himself."

"Oh? Is the Headmaster still around?"

"Nope. He disapperated not long after dropping me off."

"Oh… well… room's all set. Third door on the left."

"Thanks, Tom. I'll see you at suppertime." James said, taking his sandwich up to his room.

James spent the rest of that day, and most of the next, just lazing around and reading. He'd sent Hedwig out with a letter for Hermione letting her know where he was staying, but hadn't heard back from her yet; and while Ron had invited both himself and Hermione to visit the Burrow, over breakfast the last morning they were at Hogwarts, James didn't really feel like trying to figure out where that was yet.

On Wednesday, James decided to head to Gringott's to see what else was in his vault as, even though the gold had been his primary focus that first trip, he vaguely recalled seeing other things stored in there as well.

After waiting for over twenty minutes to see a teller, a goblin named Picknose led him towards the vaults.

"Place all magic items in the box," the goblin ordered.

Glad he'd left most of his things in his room at the Leaky Cauldron, James put the Invisibility Cloak he'd brought with him into the box before asking, "What about my wand?"

"Wand also."

When everything was in the box, the goblin sealed it and started the mine cart down towards the vaults. Not long into the ride, the cart swept through a waterfall. However when it did so, the scar on James forehead burst into agonizing pain, so much so that it felt like his whole body was burning, and he passed out.

* * *

"Feeling better Miss Potter?" a voice asked when James started to recover.

"Twice in a month, wow." He said sitting up and looking around, "where am I?"

"Healers' Quarters," the goblin woman replied. At least James thought it was a woman due to the dress as she was physically otherwise indistinguishable from any of the other goblins he'd met, minor variations notwithstanding.

"How long?"

"Three days, only."

'Three days?' "What happened?"

"Thieves' Folly, striped all magic from your person. The white curse and transfiguration were harmless, but the black curse took us a while to remove safely. We're working on adjusting it a bit so this doesn't happen again."

"Curses?" James started to ask, but just then his bladder reminded him it had been three days and it was full. "Um, do you have a lavatory I could borrow?"

The goblin pointed to a door at the end of the room marked with an elaborate F.

"Isn't that the girls' room?" James asked, but the goblin didn't answer.

Deciding it wasn't worth arguing over, James headed to the indicated bathroom, but nearly had a heart attack when he opened his pants and looked down at… herself? "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?"

* * *

An hour later found James sitting before Master Crushbone, who was administering a blood test to make sure James really was a Potter, and trying to assure the young girl that there would be no charge for the medical care she'd been force to undergo due by fault of Gringott's. The test would list the last three generations of magical persons tied to the testee as well as differentiate between male and female persons and a lot of other things the goblin didn't elaborate on with a lot of small symbols.

On the enchanted parchment in front of James, names started to appear:

 **Harriett Lillian Potter**

 **James Charlus Potter**

 **Lily Rose Potter nee Evans**

 **Charlus Fleamont Potter**

 **Dorea Lacerta Potter nee Black**

 **Fleamont Henry Potter**

 **Euphemia Norma-jean Potter nee Gaunt**

 **Cygnus Aquila Black, Jr.**

 **Violetta Martina Bulstrode**

 **Daisy Iona Goodspeak nee McGonagall**

'McGonagall? I'm related to the Deputy Headmistress?'

"Hmm," the Master Crushbone muttered, "seems your test is done. Mother's parents non-magical. I'll have to check our records on the Gaunt accounts. I don't think anyone has claimed them since the last owner died." The goblin then shouted into a small, metal funnel like thing for 'Gorbatch' to bring the Gaunt records.

"Harriett Lillian…" James muttered looking at the names on the page. "The old man lied to me… maybe he didn't know."

"Well, yours seems to have been a cadet line." Master Crushbone continued when Gorbatch delivered the books requested. "Sign here."

James leaned forward and quickly wrote JAM on the page but then stopped. "I'm a girl…" she muttered to herself before purposely writing IE instead of ES as she'd been doing all of her life. "Guess I need to get used to that too."

Nodding absently, the master goblin then said, "Gorbatch, take Miss Potter to her vaults."

"Follow me."

Gorbatch, like Griphook and Picknose, didn't say much unless addressed directly.

"Gorbatch, do the records say who has access to my vaults?"

"Yes."

"Does anyone other than me have access?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"The most important in your world are Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge. There are sixteen in total, other than yourself."

"Right. I'd like to limit that to just myself if I could."

"Noted."

They went to the Gaunt vault first. It was nearly empty of money (a few dozen galleons Jamie dropped into her money pouch without counting), but it did have quite a few books and other items that looked interesting. The only thing she took besides the money was a dagger and wand holster set with a very sharp dagger in it. Gorbatch looked longingly at the dagger but didn't say anything.

Jamie's trust account looked the same as it had before, but the items she's noticed turned out to be her parents' school trunks with all of their notes and books inside. "Guess they wanted to help me learn," Jamie muttered approvingly. "Gorbatch, can I have these trunks sent to my room at the Leaky Cauldron, please?"

"Five sickles."

After visiting the main Potter Vault, from which she was not allowed to take anything until she turned sixteen (as stated by Gorbatch, was according to the Records), Jamie chose to leave Gringott's and head back to her room at the Leaky Cauldron.

No one seemed to notice anything different about Jamie as she slipped through the pub, waving at Tom's cheery greeting. When she got to her room she took a very long look at herself in the mirror.

"I look just like the girl I saw in the Mirror of Erised last Christmas… just with my dad's shorter hair. Guess I'll have to grow it out," she said running a hand through her bangs, "Wait… what happened to my scar?" it was gone.

Hedwig seemed annoyed that Jamie had been gone so long, but after three Owl-Treats the bird seemed to have forgiven the newly made girl enough to allow her to send another letter to Hermione asking the other girl to come see her as soon as possible. Jamie found it odd that, although it had felt odd to sign her name as Jamie at Gringott's, signing her letter to Hermione that was felt normal. She just wasn't sure what to make of that.

* * *

The next morning, Hedwig was back looking a bit annoyed.

When Jamie first opened her eyes, she'd briefly thought that the day before had all been just a bad dream, but one quick glance was all it took to dissuade her of that notion.

"No messages for me Hedwig?"

The owl just turned her head away.

"Hmm. Well… I guess I should at least go see Madam Malkin today. I can't believe I have to buy a whole new wardrobe."

While 'whole new wardrobe' wasn't quite accurate as her socks, shoes, pants, and shirts went, all of her clothes were for boys and not girls, so she didn't want to be picky.

To say that Madam Malkin was shocked by Jamie's request that morning would be an understatement, but it was nothing compared to the shock she received upon asking Jamie to disrobe in a back room and finding what she thought was a scandalous request to be totally true. Madam Malkin practically closed her shop that day to cater to Jamie's needs, sending her daughter Rebecca (who'd just graduated from Hogwarts) up and down the alley to pick up various things. After a full day there, Jamie was exhausted from trying on so many dresses, skirts, swim suits, pant suits, and robes of all kinds that she just wanted to fall asleep when she got back to her room; but since Rebecca had followed her there, carrying quite a few bags of stuff Jamie couldn't readily identify yet, she forced herself to stay awake long enough to sort through her old clothes to send back to Madam Malkin's discount wares section.

* * *

A little over halfway through July, and even though she'd send over a dozen letters to Hermione, Jamie had still not heard anything back and was becoming rather annoyed with the girl. Resolving to embrace being a girl, she decided to wear a skirt in public for the first time, when she went down to ask Tom to contact Professor McGonagall about a family matter.

When she got back to her room to await the Professor, she found that she was not alone.

Jamie managed not to scream, but it was a near thing. The little creature on her bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes, like tennis balls.

"Er – Hello?" Jamie said cautiously, thinking this thing might work for Tom or something, she didn't want to overreact.

"Harry Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, miss… such an honor it is."

"Er – Thank you?" Jamie said. "Who are you?"

"Dobby, miss. Dobby, the house-elf."

"Oh. Why are you here?"

Dobby has come to tell you, miss… it is difficult, miss… Dobby wonders where to begin…"

"Why not sit down and start at the beginning?" she said pointing towards the foot of the bed.

" _S-sit down!"_ He wailed, " _Never… never ever…"_

"I'm sorry," Jamie tried to calm the little guy, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything –"

"Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. Dobby has _never_ been asked to sit down by a mage before – like an… _equal_."

"Well, I'm not exactly like most mages, Dobby. So, why are you here exactly?"

"Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn her… _Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts_."

Instead of immediately denying the little guy's demand, Jamie asked simply, "Why?"

"There is a plot, Harry Potter, to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

"What terrible things, Dobby?" Jamie asked, but Dobby stood shaking in fear of speaking, "You know what… never mind. I'm going back. Besides who will help my friends if I don't warn them about what's coming."

"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?"

"What do you mean, Dobby? Have you been stopping my mail?"

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry, miss, Dobby has your letters here miss. Dobby did it for your own good, miss."

"Dobby… if you don't want me to be angry… leave the letters on the bed and leave."

Dobby looked scared, then snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Quickly sorting through the letters on the bed, she found all of her letters to her friends, a dozen or so letters from Hermione (the last of which said she'd be returning from France on Tuesday the 28th and was really beginning to worry), and one from Fred and George Weasley saying that Ron was supposed to invite her (well James) to spend a week or so at the Burrow so everyone could go shopping together for school supplies.

Hastily writing a few notes apologizing for not having written sooner, there was a problem with the mail, and while she would love to visit the Burrow she really needed to see Hermione first.

Just as she sent those letters off with Hedwig, she heard a knock on her door.

"Hello Professor." Jamie said quietly when she opened the door, "Please come in." The stern look on Professor McGonagall's face turned more towards a scowl when she saw that Jamie was wearing a skirt, thinking she was a boy. "Did you know we were related?"

That question surprised the scowl off her face, "I beg your pardon?"

"Daisy Iona McGonagall was my mother's grandmother." She said handing the Deputy Headmistress the results of the blood test she'd taken at Gringott's and pointing to the last line.

"I didn't know. I think she was a cousin of mine, but it's been so long I can't remember the girl."

"That's alright Professor. I just wanted to let you know about the results of this blood test."

When Minerva looked down again, but this time at the top line she said in a surprised voice, "Harriett Lillian?"

"I think I'll prefer Jamie… since almost everyone at school calls me that already."

Once Minerva got over her initial shock, Jamie invited her to sit and the two discussed how the change had occurred, that yes, she was a girl, and how that would affect her when she returned to Hogwarts. They also talked about Dobby and his warning, but since there were no details involved they could only resolve to keep a close eye on the situation and hopefully prevent anything from happening.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

There have been a lot of hints in the story so far leading up to this that it really shouldn't surprise anyone that Jamie's a girl… if you are surprised, I hope you find it a good one, because otherwise I don't care.

Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	8. Shopping with the Weasleys

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 2**_ _ **–**_ _ **Shopping with the Weasleys**_

While Professor McGonagall hadn't approved of Jamie living on her own, after hearing what her home life had been like as a boy, she agreed that Jamie shouldn't return to the Dursleys. She also forbade Jamie from leaving the Leaky Cauldron while she went to arrange foster-ship for the young girl.

When Hermione arrived at her door on the 30th, Jamie was very happy to see her and, like all of the people she'd met since the change, Hermione was shocked. By the time Jamie had finished explaining what had happened, Hermione called her mom and asked if she could stay over with a girl from school before going to the Burrow tomorrow as planned. As this had the added benefit of not having her parents drive all the way to London two days in a row, they agreed on the condition that there were to be no boys in their room. Hermione laughed at that and said it would not be a problem.

The two girls talked for a long time that night, while Hermione waxed poetic over the books and notes Jamie's parents had left her at Gringott's, then told Jamie what all the stuff Rebecca picked up for her was and how it was used (some of it rather embarrassing for the new girl). She also talked Jamie into a mini-fashion show to see what Jamie now had to work with and if they needed to get anything else for her. Evidently, Hermione agreed with most of Madam Malkin's choices, but suggested Jamie get a one piece bathing suit to use around boys since the simple black bikini she had already picked up might cause more trouble at school than Jamie was ready to handle. Hermione also went over some topics of poise and etiquette for girls, with the promise to pick up a book or two on the subject for Jamie the next time she had the chance.

* * *

The next morning Jamie sat watching Hermione get dressed thinking about how the other girl was so unselfconscious around other girls, and wondering how long it would take her to get that casual with her own new body.

"Like what you see?" Hermione asked, watching Jamie through a mirror.

"Um… it's not like that… it's just… you seem so…"

"Comfortable being me?"

"Yeah."

"You get used to it."

"Think I should wear pants today so I don't freak Ron out?"

"He's going to freak out sooner or later; Might as well make it sooner. Get it over with before school."

"Right, denim skirt it is."

Jamie watched Hermione as she led the way down to the bar, trying to emulate how the older girl walked, but probably failing miserably at it. When they reached the dining area, Jamie and Hermione were enveloped in a bone crushing hug by the red haired lady that had helped Jamie get to Platform Nine and Three-quarters the year before.

"There you two are!" She cried, then saw what Jamie was wearing and cried "Harry! What are you wearing?"

"It's Jamie, ma'am, and last I heard it was called a skirt."

The twins burst out laughing, thinking she was playing a joke on their mother while Ron and his younger sister stood red-faced with embarrassment.

"Good lord, you're Harry Potter," Mr. Weasley said suddenly, trying to see what the twins were laughing at. "Ron's told us so much about… you?" He asked at the end finally noting the skirt.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, "You'd best go get changed, dear, lots to do today and we wouldn't want a reporter to see a nice young boy like you in that get up."

"Girl," Jamie said simply, cocking her hip to the side and placing a hand on it as she'd see Alicia and Katie do from time to time. This stopped the twin's laughter instantly and made both of the younger Weasleys appear to be rather angry at Jamie for some reason.

"You mean I've had a girl sleeping in my dorm room all year and didn't even know it?" Ron hissed, probably thinking of all the things he'd said about girls that year. "How could you do that to me?"

"Good one mate," said one.

"Doubt even we could pull off a prank like that," continued the other.

"Although…" pondered the first.

"If we…" thought the second.

"Yes!" they said together.

"Do I want to know?" Hermione asked.

"Probably not," Ron stated, his fear of the twins overriding his embarrassment and anger at Jamie for the moment.

"Hi. I'm Jamie," Jamie said addressing the young girl who's yet to say anything, holding her hand out to shake.

"Ginny," the girl squeaked barely touching Jamie's hand in a handshake before diving behind her mother to hide.

Jamie cocked an eyebrow at Ron.

Ron shrugged, "She's been idolizing you for a while… probably fancies you a bit… but now you're a girl…" He then shuddered as he remembered that he was supposed to be embarrassed and angry at the girl he was talking to.

Instead of joining the family on their shopping trip, Mr. Weasley returned home after a hard night's work to rest. Jamie suspected it was also to rearrange the sleeping arrangements now that they were having two girls staying over instead of a boy and a girl. Jamie settled her bill with Tom, who was slightly disappointed Jamie wasn't going to be staying until the start of school, then followed Mrs. Weasley into Diagon Alley.

As soon as they stepped foot into the Alley, the twins cried out that they saw their friend Lee Jordan and promptly disappeared into the crowd. How they managed to do so with their bright red hair Jamie had no clue. Since she obviously wasn't going to be able to keep all the kids together, she had Percy take Jamie, Hermione, and Ron to go shopping, while she took Ginny to Madam Malkin's for her robes and Ollivander's for her wand, asking Percy to remember to pick up a few items from the apothecary (such as Floo Powder, whatever that was).

* * *

Ron had mostly gotten used to the fact that Jamie was a girl by noon, when they met up with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny outside of Flourish and Blotts bookstore.

"We have to get seven of Lockhart's books?" Jamie asked looking over Ron's book list since she hadn't received one yet.

"Yeah," Ron replied, "the twins bet the new DADA professor's a witch that's sweet on the bloke."

"Look Mrs. Weasley," Jamie said turning to the woman, "Let me buy a set for Ron since you're putting me up for the rest of the month. It's only fair I repay you somehow."

"I'll get Ginny's," Hermione quickly added, "and the twins can share, so you will only need pick up two sets."

"Nonsense dears, you needn't repay us for anything."

"But we want to." Jamie pressed before being jostled by a rude photographer for the Daily Prophet truing to take pictures of the famous Gilderoy Lockhart during his book signing.

When Mr. Lockhart heard this, he looked up flashing a smile far too dazzlingly white to be natural, and the he saw Jamie.

"It can't be… Harry Potter!" The crowd parted swiftly as Mr. Lockhart rushed forward to tightly clamp Jamie to his side, "Big smile, Harry. Together you and I rate the front page!"

Jamie's struggles to get away went unnoticed by most of the people present.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, "What a momentous occasion this is! And I feel it's the perfect time for a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today to get my autograph, he had no idea he'd be leaving with a full set of my collected works! Free of charge! And another little thing. Come September, Harry and his little friends will have the pleasure of learning from the real 'Magical Me!' That's right! This fall yours truly will be stepping in to teach your children as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"Get off me you pervert." Jamie said finally elbowing her way free of the man, as the crowd clapped and cheered. "And my name is Jamie!"

Handing the set of free books to Mrs. Weasley, Jamie said, "Make that one set you'll need to buy. I'll get my own." She's been primping herself a bit while waiting in line to get the books autographed, but after the man had accosted Jamie and not noticed that she was a girl (or at least dressed like one), she was beginning to doubt her fascination with the man.

"Nice skirt, Potter. Bet you loved that. Can't even go to a bookstore without making the papers," A familiar and rather unpleasant voice drawled, behind her.

"Thank you, but I found it rather unpleasant myself," Jamie said as she turned. Purposely cocking her head to the side so her bangs parted showing her unblemished forehead, she then asked, "Did you need something?"

Malfoy couldn't figure out how the rather pretty girl in front of him wasn't the scar-headed freak he'd been taunting and hexing for the last year. "I thought you were someone else," he said shaking his bleached blonde head before reaching a hand out, "I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy… and you are?"

"I'd think you should know me by now, Malfoy," she said smirking, "I'm Jamie Potter."

Malfoy, Sr. accosted them briefly, but seeing as Mr. Weasley wasn't there for him to pick a fight with, he quickly moved on.

After leaving the bookstore, Mrs. Weasley took the girls to get some 'Girls' Stuff' while Percy took Ron to look for the twins. Jamie did pick up the one piece bathing suit Hermione had recommended she get, as well as a few other accessories, like a pair of small sapphire ear studs that were enchanted to block or dampen most low auditory spells.

Floo travel, which Mrs. Weasley explained to her upon their return to the Leaky Cauldron, was a form of magical transportation via fireplaces. The effect was so disorienting to Jamie that, when she exited the fireplace at the Burrow, she promptly threw up.

* * *

Jamie spent the night alone in Charlie's old room; she liked all the pictures the second oldest Weasley boy had collected of various magical creatures and his many friends adorning nearly every square inch of wall space. Jamie was still feeling a bit queasy from the Floo travel the evening before, so her breakfast consisted only of a slice of toast and water.

Mr. Weasley was reading the Daily Prophet while drinking his morning coffee, and when Jamie read the title on the front page, she groaned a bit.

"Something wrong, Jamie?" Mr. Weasley asked, turning the paper down to look at her.

"Looks like Mr. Lockhart was right about the two of us rating the front page." 'Boy-Who-Lived is a Girl!' and 'Lockhart Clueless' were the two biggest headlines on the page. "Guess I don't need to worry about hiding the fact I'm a girl now, everyone'll know."

"Do you think that's a bad thing, Jamie?"

"Probably not… besides I told Malfoy directly so half the Slytherins likely knew before the paper came out this morning."

Jamie left Mr. Weasley to his coffee and reading before he had to head off to the office for work.

Mrs. Weasley took the opportunity to teach the girls some household charms and spells that wouldn't trip the trace and get them into legal trouble (Jamie now knew where the prankster twins got their rule breaking habits from), while she sent the boys out to de-gnome the garden.

That, and a few pick-up games of Quidditch with the other near-school age kids in the area, set the pattern for the rest of the summer.

* * *

On, September 1st, the Weasleys were running late to catch the Hogwarts Express, having to return to the Burrow several times for forgotten brooms, diaries, and fireworks, among other things. So Mrs. Weasley quickly led Ginny through the portal to platform nine and three-quarters, followed very closely by Fred and George; but when Jamie and Ron tried to follow, Ron's cart slammed into the barrier knocking him off balance and taking Jamie down with him.

"What the devil are you doing?" demanded a nearby guard.

"Sorry, sir," Jamie replied quickly, "lost control of the trolley."

Just then the clock on the wall dinged the hour.

"Well that's it," Ron muttered quietly, "We've missed it."

"Come on Ron, let's go back to the car and wait for your mom."

"The CAR!"

"What about it?"

"We can drive the car to school."

"Are you nuts?" Jamie starred at him. "If you don't want to wait for your mom, I think we could take the Floo from the Leaky Cauldron… but I was so looking forward to the feast tonight. Oh well… needs must."

* * *

Jamie managed not to throw up immediately as she stepped out of the Floo into the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade Village; but she did as soon as she reached the bathroom. As Jamie had had the foresight to call 'Aunt Minnie' about the problem, not twenty minutes later she and Ron were sitting in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts with Madam Pomfrey examining Jamie while Professor McGonagall grilled Ron about what happened at the station.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

As much as Ron is integrated into the story, I really don't like him all that much and he seems like such a secondary character.

Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	9. Professor Problems

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 3**_ _ **–**_ _ **Professor Problems**_

Since Ron was fine, Professor McGonagall drafted him to assist with a few last minute things around Gryffindor Tower and the two left Jamie alone with Madam Pomfrey.

"This should settle your stomach dear." The kind Mediwitch said handing Jamie a small vial of putrid green liquid. Seeing that Snape, who supplied the infirmary with most of its potions, couldn't have had a clue about her presence yet, or needing that potion specifically, Jamie downed the vile concoction with a shudder.

"Do those have to taste that bad?"

"Of course!" Madam Pomfrey replied, "How else would people learn not to hurt themselves and just rely on potions?" Jamie groaned at that. "Speaking of potions, there are a few I need to talk to you about."

The next half hour spent with the seemingly kind witch would probably leave a scar on Jamie's psyche for life, which was probably the point given her stance on potions. Jamie was grateful for the information however and dutifully resolved to bring any issues she had in those areas to the Mediwitch promptly.

* * *

When Jamie was released from the Hospital Wing, she went in search of Professor McGonagall to see if she needed any other assistance. Along the way she overheard Professor Dumbledore complaining in an unused classroom about an enchantment having been broken (she didn't want to wait around to find out what it was as he sounded really angry), stumbled across Snape (who tried to give her a detention), and ended up helping Professor Vector (the Arithmacy instructor who rescued her from Snape) by running a few errands for the witch. Between tasks, Jamie sat quietly in the teacher's classroom looking through one of the many textbooks that lined the wall.

"See something interesting?" Professor Vector asked, breaking into Jamie's contemplations.

"Oh… yes. I hadn't understood a lot of the notes my mother left me about Arithmacy, but this," she said waving a hand at the book, "really helps me understand them a lot more."

"Your mother?"

"Yes, ma'am, she and my father left a lot of their old schoolbooks and notes at Gringott's for me."

"Do you think you will be interested in taking my class next year as one of your electives?"

"Probably… most of this stuff is still way over my head, but it looks interesting."

"Here," she said handing Jamie a different book, "this should help you more. You can keep it if you like; it's a bit outdated now. Anyway, I'm all done here and the train should be arriving soon. Why don't you go meet up with your friends when they arrive?"

"Thank you Professor."

* * *

Alas, it was not to be, as she was shanghaied by Filch on her way through the entrance hall and spent the entirety of the Welcome Feast waiting patiently in Professor McGonagall's office under the baleful glare of the Caretaker. At least she had an interesting book to read to distracter her from the man's mutterings about well-oiled chains and hanging kids by their thumbs and toes.

"Hi Aunt Minnie," Jamie greeted the woman warmly as the professor entered her office.

"Jamie," she replied sternly, "what have I said about calling me that?"

"Not at Hogwarts, and not around any but close friends," Jamie answered swiftly, "Sorry, Professor."

Filch was dismissed and the man went away unhappy that Jamie was not going to be punished. Once he was gone, Professor McGonagall showed Jamie one of the many secrets about her office… a direct exit into Gryffindor Tower.

Jamie slipped in just as Percy finished pompously telling the new first-years about the dormitories, blatantly ignoring the fact that it was supposed to be the fifth year prefects' job to do so. He then demanded to know where Jamie had been, and looked a bit flabbergasted to hear that she had been in Professor McGonagall's office all evening.

Hermione fairly pounced on Jamie when she made it up to her new dorm room.

"Where have you been? I've been so worried," the bushy haired girl demanded, "How could you have missed the train? What's that book?"

"Here at Hogwarts most of the day, I'm sorry to have worried you Hermione. The platform portal sealed on Ron and me so we had to use the Floo to get here," Jamie stated, the thought of the Floo trip turning her stomach a bit. "And this," she said showing Hermione the book, "was a gift from Professor Vector for running errands for her this afternoon… Introduction to Arithmacy."

"Well I'm glad you're alright."

"Me too."

"I think this is you over here, Jamie. There's no trunk next to the bed. I'm just there," Hermione continued pointing to the next bed over, then leaning in to whisper, "You might want to be careful around Parvati and Lavender… or you'll get more contradictory fashion advice than you'll know what to do with."

"Thanks Hermione," Jamie said pulling her shrunken trunk out and sitting it next to the bed, "I like having a window next to my bed."

Jamie fell asleep that night as she had many nights in the boys' dorms, nearly fully dressed.

* * *

Lavender and Parvati were gone when Hermione woke Jamie the next morning suggesting they shower before heading out to breakfast. Since Hermione had already seen Jamie in a bikini, and wasn't fully awake yet, she wasn't uncomfortable striping down and putting on a bath robe to follow Hermione into the shower area. Jamie's discomfort grew rapidly upon entering the room however as her eyes landed on Sally-Ann. Jamie hadn't thought about the other four girls in Gryffindor the night before, but like the boys' side of the tower, the showers were an open, common area shared by all the girls in the year, with only small partitions to hold up the shelves at each stall, and this was the first time Jamie had seen a girl other than herself fully naked.

"Now you know," Hermione whispered so Sally-Ann wouldn't hear over the rushing water, acknowledging Jamie's discomfort, while reminding the younger girl of their earlier conversation. "You've nothing we haven't seen before, so there's no need to be shy."

Screwing up her Gryffindor courage, Jamie took off her bath robe and determinedly stepped into the shower space beside Sally-Ann, with Hermione following a moment later in the next stall over. Focusing on the task at hand rather than the other two girls in the room, Jamie's nerves soon calmed down.

* * *

Professor McGonagall passed out the class schedules at breakfast that morning, and Jamie thought that Madam Pomfrey must have liked scaring her for life the day before as a new class was listed for a half hour session every Thursday between Charms and Lunch. "Magical Hygiene and You" separated the class up, with the girls in the Hospital Wing learning from the mediwitch herself, and boys in the Dungeons dealing with Snape. She kind of felt sorry for Ron and Neville, but Jamie was a little more afraid of what the class might entail for herself after that brief 'talk' the day before.

After breakfast the girls headed back to their room to change and get their supplies for the Doubles Herbology session they had first thing that morning with the Hufflepuffs.

As they neared the greenhouses, they saw the rest of their class standing outside and could hear the argument between the druidess and Mr. Lockhart from over thirty yards away. After having read through all of Mr. Lockhart's books, Jamie just couldn't bring herself to call him a professor yet, and what was currently happening with her Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, was only cementing her disinterest in the man.

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Professor Sprout called, her hair even fuzzier than usual under her patch, little, old hat as she tried to shoo the unwanted man away once more.

"Ah, Harry!" Mr. Lockhart exclaimed, catching sight of Jamie. "I've been wanting a word with you. You don't mind if he's a couple minutes late, do you Pomona?"

Shooting an apologetic look at Jamie, Professor Sprout snagged the opportunity to get the rest of her students into class. Hermione was reluctant to leave her, but Jamie just quietly pushed the older girl towards the greenhouse door with a sigh.

"Harry," he said, teeth gleaming in the sunlight as he shook his head, "Harry, Harry, Harry."

"It's Jamie…"

"When I heard – well, of course, it was all my fault. Could have kicked myself."

Jamie had no idea what he was going on about, but couldn't help but agree that he should kick himself.

"Don't know when I've been more shocked!" Lockhart said, finally looking at Jamie again, "Harry, Harry, _Harry_ … going around dressed like a Girl!"

"I am a girl."

"Got the bug do you, Harry? Had to get on the front page of the papers, did you boy? I _completely_ understand."

"I doubt it."

"It's totally natural to want a bit more once you've had a taste of fame – and I blame myself for giving you that."

"And here I thought it was Voldemort who'd done it."

"It was bound to go to your head – but see here young man, you can't just go around dressing like a girl. Gives the wrong impression you see."

"Ah… I need to get to class, sir. Professor Sprout's waiting you know."

"But of course! Off you go Harry! Off you go… and remember what we talked about!"

"I would if you'd said anything of import," Jamie muttered as she entered the greenhouse rubbing her forehead.

They were going to be repotting Mandrakes, that day resuming where they had left off at the end of first-year with some practical, hands-on knowledge of the audibly deadly plants. Luckily for Jamie, they hadn't started yet. After about twenty minutes in the sweltering greenhouse designed to emulate the Amazon Rainforest, Jamie was drenched in sweat and up to her elbows in dirt, wishing she could put her bangs up to keep them out of her eyes. Professor Sprout let class out almost an hour early, so they could go get cleaned up before Transfiguration, but held Jamie back for a minute to award her twenty points for Gryffindor for allowing the rest of the class to get to work on time.

* * *

Back in the tower, for a second shower that day, Jamie hardly even noticed the other girls as she rushed to get herself clean and get ready for Aunt Minnie's class. She also put on one of the black, muggle headbands that Rebecca had picked up for her to hold her bangs back, just as she left the Gryffindor common room.

Professor McGonagall was teaching them how to turn beetles into buttons, and while Hermione raced through about a dozen of them and was starting to experiment in making them into different kinds of buttons, Jamie wasn't as lucky. She seemed to have missed a step or something and was furiously going through her notes when Ron's wand, which was wrapped with Spell-o-Tape for some reason, belched a horrid cloud of thick gray smoke that smelled of rotten eggs killing his beetle. The professor wasn't pleased. Jamie managed a set of four, nearly matched buttons by the end of class, for which she was very happy with herself for achieving.

When Jamie got to the Great Hall for lunch, she briefly caught a very disturbed look on Headmaster Dumbledore's face before he rushed off. Figuring it had something to do with the Ministry of Magic that Aunt Minnie had said bombarded the man with owls every day, she just ignored his passing. By the end of lunch however, she was almost as annoyed by all the people pointing and whispering about her lack of facial disfigurement, as she had been with them talking about her scar during first year. She just couldn't win.

* * *

Somehow Hermione still had a positive opinion of Lockhart, but after their 'talk' that morning, Jamie was all for skiving off the afternoon class. Unfortunately for her, she agreed with Hermione that Aunt Minnie would kill her for doing so; so she sat down as far from the gleaming git as she could, much to Hermione's annoyance, as the two always sat together.

After Mr. Lockhart spent twenty minutes talking about himself, and saying that he didn't talk about what he'd just said repeatedly, he decided to throw a pop-quiz covering his favorite subject, himself. Knowing Hermione as an overzealous, over achiever, Jamie know the older girl would no doubt know every answer, and since it was for a class, Jamie decided to at least try to answer a few of the sixty question quiz correctly. When the man passed out the exam parchments and Jamie saw the first question ("What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?"), she decided to take her answers in the opposite direction, while still answering somewhat correctly, by using a lilac coloring charm on her ink before writing, "The flash of a camera bulb."

As predicted, Hermione received full marks and ten points for Gryffindor from the man, for answering every question correctly, when he browsed through the quizzes a half hour later; although Jamie thought the puzzled look on his face could only have come from his reading of her own answers.

Setting aside the quizzes, Lockhart then stated that it was his job to prepare them for the dangers that they would face in the 'real world' (which Jamie actually agreed with), before he proceeded to demonstrate just how _not_ to deal with a swarm of Cornish Pixies by losing one's wand and running away. It didn't take long for the mischievous, little, blue devils to wreck the classroom, but Jamie and Hermione had been reading through Jamie's parents' old school notes and had picked up a few charms that let them re-capture the beasts before anyone was hurt.

When they reached the Charms classroom for their next class and told Professor Flitwick what had happened, he awarded the two girls five points each for quick thinking and working ahead, then proceeded to teach the whole class how the charms they had used worked so they all could be prepared for next time.

Since History of Magic rounded out their first day of their second school year, Jamie chose to stay awake in the classroom by doing her Herbology essay on the growth cycle of Mandrakes and reading the textbook instead of listening to Professor Binns' monotone drone.

"How do you expect to pass the tests if you don't pay any attention in class?" Hermione asked as they left the classroom, "I hadn't known anything about the 1219 Goblin Rebellion before."

"It was 1218, and there were two that year; which do you want to know about? The one with Bodrick the Odd, or the one with Odrick the Bold?"

Hermione stood dumbfounded for a moment then dropped her bag and started rifling furiously though her notes, "1218? I could have sworn Binns said 1219!"

Jamie put her hands over Hermione's to stop the other girl's rising panic attack, "Binns did say 1219; but the book and my dad's old notes both say 1218, so I'm not overly worried about it." Hermione looked relieved that she hadn't misheard a professor, but also a bit worried, wondering what other incorrect information she potentially had in her notes.

* * *

Snape was glowering more than usual during Doubles Potions with the Slytherins Thursday morning, but Jamie managed to get through the class by only losing the twenty bonus points Professor Sprout had given her the day before.

"You girls are lucky." Ron said despondently, as they packed up their potions supplies, "You don't have to deal with Snape for that new class this morning."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Neville turned to Jamie and asked in a surprised voice, "What are you apologizing for?"

"I think I might have… inadvertently, mind you… given Madam Pomfrey the idea for it Tuesday…"

Needless to say, the boys were not well pleased as she hurriedly finished packing and raced to escape the dungeons.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I briefly considered calling this chapter, "Who's your DADA?" but thankfully overruled myself.

As predicted… my updates will not be quite as rapid fire as they were the first few days… but I'll still try to get them out fairly quickly.

All the Hogwarts class schedules I could find online were incorrect… 2nd year Gryffindor schedule started on September 2nd with Doubles Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, Transfiguration, lunch, and DADA (no other class mentioned in the book, so it was probably a Doubles as well)… September 2nd was a Wednesday. After finding one that was close enough to use, I just had to reverse Tuesday and Wednesday, and flip both the Tuesday/Thursday (or rather Wednesday/Thursday) Herbology/Potions sections. I hope no one really minds if I make a mistake somewhere.

I've also found that it is a REALLY good thing I know how to check my own grammar… Microsoft Word 2010's check system sucks, and I doubt the Word365 (or whatever it's called) is any better.

Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	10. The Most Hated Day of the Year

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 4**_ _ **–**_ _ **The Most Hated Day of the Year**_

Jamie was awakened by a gentle shaking very early on Sunday morning.

"Wassamatter?" she muttered groggily.

"Up and at 'em, Jamie." Angelina said quietly, so as to not disturb the other girls in the room, "Oli wants to start practice early this year."

Blinking blearily, Jamie glanced out the window, "It's the break of dawn."

"Oh, you know Oli..." the assistant captain replied, "if the sun's up we're starting too late."

"Ugh… alright… be there in a few." Jamie grouched as she began gathering her practice robes.

Fifteen minutes later, Oliver was leading a mostly sleep-waking team onto the Quidditch Pitch, when they were pulled to a top by some strange clicking noises.

"What's this? A spy!" Oliver cried out catching sight of a little first-year boy that was following them.

Katie kept Oliver from chasing the boy off while Alicia identified the kid, "Oh, it's fine Oli… he's a Gryffindor."

"I don't like it." Oliver said angrily.

Sighing, Jamie went over to the boy to appease Oliver by sending him back to the Tower.

"Hiya Harry! I'm Colin. Can I take your picture?" the boy, Colin, said excitedly.

"Not when I'm not awake," Jamie muttered, "but it seems like you've already done… and my name's Jamie."

"Jamie?" Colin asked confusedly, "Can you sign this picture? I had it developed special so it moves!"

"If I do, will you go back to Gryffindor Tower?" Jamie had no idea when the picture had been made, but it showed the gleaming git, Lockhart, holding onto what Jamie recognized as her own arm, as the photographic version of herself tried desperately to escape.

"Aw… I wanted to see Quidditch."

"We're just going to practice. It'll be very boring to watch and Oliver wouldn't like it being observed by anyone not on the team."

"Can I be on the team? You were the youngest Seeker in a hundred years and started in your first year. Maybe I could be the team photographer? You must be brilliant to have made the team so early. Is it true Quidditch has four balls and two of them try to knock you off your broom? I've never flown, is it easy?" Colin shot out his questions very quickly.

Finally giving up and slapping a hand over Colin's motor mouth, she answered, "You'll have to talk to Professor McGonagall and Captain Wood about working for the team… later… and flying is great, you should have your first lesson sometime next week. Now please, Colin, go back to the tower?" She asked signing the photo to fulfill her part of the bargain.

Colin looked happy as he went skipping off to the castle.

The team spent the next two hours in the locker room as Oliver went over various schemes he'd come up with over the summer, some of which used Jamie as a sort of fourth Chaser to break up the other team's formations. When Katie mentioned that they should put together a reserve team to practice against, Oliver said he'd think about it, even though he'd denied the request the day before when Angelina asked about the same thing. At long last Oliver turned away from the tactics board, and picked up his broom.

"We should have won the Cup last year. We're easily the best team."

Jamie felt a little bad, having been unconscious in the Hospital Wing during the final match of the previous year.

"So we're going to practice harder than ever before. Any questions?"

"Why couldn't you have told us this yesterday?" George asked… at least Jamie thought it was George.

"And let us sleep in today?" Fred finished… assuming the first was George.

Oliver glared at the twins, "Come on you lot. Let's go put our new tactics into practice."

Alicia stopped Jamie just as they were about to exit the locker room and pulled out a pink hairband saying that she figured Jamie would forget about her bangs, before pinning them back for the younger girl. With her tanks, Jamie followed her teammate into the air. They hadn't been practicing long however, when Oliver spotted a group of people wearing green game-robes entering the pitch and called a halt to the rest of the team.

"Flint!" Oliver shouted as the team came down to the ground, "What is the meaning of this? This is our practice time, I booked it specially! You lot can clear off now!"

Flint smirked and held out a note saying:

I, Professor S, Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owning to the need to train their new Seeker.

"New Seeker?" Oliver queried, as the scrawny little blonde boy stepped out from behind the other six large boys, "Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?"

"Funny you should mention father," Draco Malfoy said arrogantly. "Like the generous gift he's made the Slytherin team?" He gloated holding up his own broom while indicating the matching ones in the other boys' hands.

"Nimbus 2001s," Fred whispered mournfully.

"Very latest model," George muttered shakily, looking down at his own Cleansweep 5.

"Oh, look. It's a field invasion," Flint said in a disgusted tone as Hermione walked over to them.

"What's happening? Is everything alright? Why aren't you playing? And what is that doing here?" she asked indicating Malfoy.

"I'm the new Seeker," Malfoy stated haughtily, "not that it's any of _your_ business Mudblood."

The Gryffindor Beaters held the Chasers back from attacking the blonde ponce, but they all looked pissed at that comment.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way onto the team," Hermione countered smugly, "they got in on pure _talent_!"

Anger suffused Malfoy's face, but Jamie thought of a way to try diffusing the situation. Stepping between Malfoy and Flint, she addressed the Slytherin captain, "I guess you should take that note to Madam Hooch so she can put you on the schedule for this afternoon. We only booked the pitch until lunch." Not knowing how to refute that statement, the Slytherins left the field.

"What's a 'Mudblood'?" Hermione asked quietly.

Alicia, still looking pissed, bit out, "It's a really foul term for Muggleborns like us."

"Why are you here, Hermione?" Jamie asked.

"Well… when you weren't there when I woke up this morning and found out you were at Quidditch practice, I figured you'd probably forget and thought I'd bring you some fresh clothes to change into after," she said with a slight blush.

* * *

As the weeks worn on, Snape became increasingly annoying to the Gryffindors, as he hadn't been able to foist the health class off on anyone else, and Lockhart became an even more useless instructor on defending one's self from the dark arts by completely ignoring the hows and whys of defense in favor of embarrassing Jamie during every class by doing supposed reenactments of the stories told in his books. Madam Pomfrey drafted her 'Magical Hygiene and You' class to brew _Pepperup_ potions to refill her dwindling stocks, as the cold weather had most of the students stopping by at one points or other during October complaining of having colds. Jamie was beginning to wonder just how bad the other schools of magic were if Hogwarts was supposed to be the best of them.

Oliver was trying to step up the Quidditch practices in preparation for their November 7th match against Slytherin, settling for longer hours when Professor McGonagall would let him schedule practices more than three times a week. So it was a very tired Jamie, who was trudging up to Astronomy with Hermione on the 26th, who received a rather shocking wakeup call, similar to having a bucket of ice water dumped on her head, as she accidently walked through Sir Nicholas.

"You look troubled, young Potter," Nick said folding a transparent letter and tucking it into his doublet

Shivering slightly, Jamie replied, "So do you, Nick."

"Ah," the ghost waved an elegant hand dismissively, "a matter of no importance… not as if I really wanted to join."

"Join what?" Hermione asked noting the bitterness on the ghost's face.

"Why the Headless Hunt of course. But apparently I don't qualify… lousy half inch."

"Sorry to hear that," Jamie said, trying to calm the fuming ghost a bit.

With a deep sigh, the ghost asked, "So what's bothering you? Anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you can make time stop or find seven Nimbus 2001s for Oliver before Halloween."

A look of longing came over Nick's countenance, "Halloween… it'll be five hundred this year… forty-five times with a blunt axe… but no matter. Say, you wouldn't be interested in coming to my Deathday party would you? Never seen a live person at one."

"I suppose…" Jamie began.

Nick cut over the rest of her response, "Great! It's this Saturday at seven PM… Dungeon 13."

"We'll be there," Hermione answered for the both of them.

* * *

Jamie wasn't sure she should have been looking forward to, or dreading, going to the Deathday party, but she knew for certain she wanted no part in the festivities in the Great Hall as she and Hermione made their way down to Dungeon 13.

The jet black candles with bright blue flames lining the hallway leading to the party seemed to suck all the heat out of the air, so Jamie and Hermione were very grateful that they had decided to dress as warmly as they could (of course that had been because of the chance of accidentally passing through the other guests instead of simply enduring the environment).

The party itself was incredible. It was very enlightening to see how ghosts celebrated the day they died as hundreds of ghosts waltzing slowly a few feet above the floor, to the screeching sounds of what appeared to be a saw and barbed wire quintet, filled the main part of the space. Over to one side a banquet was set up with the most nauseating and putrid substances trying to pass for food that not even the mice and bugs of the castle's dungeons were interested in investigating what they were (but then again… the environment might have had something to do with that as well). Greeting the ghosts they knew and introducing themselves to several others, the only two living people in the room slowly made their way to the other side of the area, in a hopeless attempt to find a little fresh air; while doing so, several ghosts complemented the pair in their attempt to fit in by not breathing.

They saw Peeves mocking the ghost of a young girl who took off wailing just as Sir Nicholas floated up to the stage to make a speech, but he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Headless Hunt charging through the wall directly behind the two girls. Since staying any longer would likely have caused Jamie and Hermione to join the rest of the guests in their eternal slumbers, they bade the Ghost of Honor a Happy Deathday and retreated to warmer climates, and perhaps drop by to see Madam Pomfrey for a Pepperup potion as well.

As they were passing through the second floor corridor, on their way to the Hospital Wing, when Jamie cocked her head to the side with a confused look on her face and said in a very strange sounding voice, "Sslissee-asslissahsss? Eesssenass!" before she turned and hurried down the hall.

"Jamie! Jamie, wait up!" Hermione shouted as she chased after her roommate.

The two skidded to a stop in a puddle of water when they saw a cat tied by its' tail to a lamp, and large words, written in a dripping red substance that looked like blood, on the wall: THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED! ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE!

The two were about to go find a professor when the sound of hundreds of feet approaching reached their ears. When all at once the sound stopped as someone shouted, "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next Mudbloods!" followed by the sound of someone being slapped very hard and very loudly.

It was Draco Malfoy of course holding a hand to the reddening handprint on his face in front of a very angry looking Jamie. "Never say that word around me again," she said coldly.

Professor McGonagall, having witnessed the scene between the two students, said in an exasperated tone, "Miss Potter! That'll be five points from Gryffindor…" and seeing the smug look cross Malfoy's face, she added, "and a detention for the both of you."

Malfoy sputtered, but for once wisely chose to remain silent as a new voice filled the hall.

"My cat! My cat! What has happened to you, Mrs. Norris?!" Mr. Filch shouted distraught over the apparently dead feline. When his eyes landed on Jamie however he fairly screeched, "You! _You_! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll -"

"ARGUS!" Headmaster Dumbledore shouted over the man as Professor McGonagall interposed herself between Jamie and the nearly homicidal Caretaker.

The headmaster swiftly removed the cat from the wall sconce, and ordered everyone to return to their dormitories; however he then immediately ordered Mr. Filch and Jamie to follow him to discuss what happened in the DADA classroom nearby, to which Hermione invited herself. The Headmaster informed the Caretaker that the cat was actually still alive, though petrified, and would make a full recovery once the Mandrakes Professor Sprout was currently cultivating were mature enough to use in a restorative draught. Jamie sat next to Hermione through all of this, wondering what she was supposed to be doing there other than continuing to be a detrimental influence to Mr. Filch's sanity, as the man kept blaming her for everything. After informing the man that no Second Year student could possibly perform such powerful dark magic as what had happened to Mrs. Norris, he dismissed the Caretaker to his duties.

It was rather surprising that Snape waited until after Mr. Filch left before popping off a snide question about why Jamie was in the corridor instead of at the Halloween Feast. She briefly contemplated reminding him of her answer the previous Halloween of celebrating the day her parents were murdered, before Hermione spoke up telling the assembled professors about the Deathday Party and the fact they were on the way to see Madam Pomfrey. As their lips were still slightly blue from the experience the miserly Potions Master relented with a scowl.

Halloween was quickly becoming Jamie's most hated day of the year…

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I was asked to clarify the blood test results from Gringott's… so I hope this helps.

Family Tree of Harriett Lillian "Jamie" Potter

Self - Harriett Lillian Potter

Father - James Charlus Potter

Mother - Lily Rose Potter nee Evans

Father's Father - Charlus Felamont Potter

Father's Mother - Dorea Lacerta Potter nee Black

Mother's Father - Muggle

Mother's Mother - Muggle

Father's Father's Father - Fleamont Henry Potter

Father's Father's Mother - Euphemia Norma-jean Potter nee Gaunt

Father's Mother's Father - Cygnus Aquilla Black, Jr.

Father's Mother's Mother - Violetta Martina Bulstrode

Mother's Father's Father - Muggle

Mother's Father's Mother - Muggle

Mother's Mother's Father - Muggle

Mother's Mother's Mother - Daisy Iona Goodspeak nee McGonagall

I tried for a table, but haven't figured out the formatting to use on FanFiction yet... and the Muggles were omitted from the original list.

No… that isn't a typo… Cygnus Black wasn't married to Violetta Bulstrode (at least for my story).

The Gaunts, being descended from Salazar Slytherin, had the Parseltongue trait… but being a cadet line, the trait went dormant until Tom Riddle activated it in Jamie on Halloween of 1981… thus Jamie can speak Parseltongue without the scar (a deviation from cannon).

Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	11. It's All Fun and Games

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 5**_ _ **–**_ _ **It's All Fun and Games**_

Hermione stopped Jamie on their way back to Gryffindor Tower, "What did you say back there?"

"Back where?" Jamie asked bewildered by the bushy haired girl's question.

"In the corridor before you took off running and found Mrs. Norris."

"I think it was something like… what's that? Come on… why?"

Hermione shook her head, "That's not what you said Jamie."

"Of course that's what I said Hermione. I think I should know as I said it."

Hermione shook her head, "No… You said, 'Sliss-asills' something. I can't really think of how to pronounce it, it was like another language."

"Another language? How could I speak another language without knowing I can?"

"That's what it sounded like, but I couldn't understand it so I don't know for sure."

Jamie shrugged, "Well… I guess we have a new research project then."

When they entered the tower, a lot of the other students wouldn't even look at Jamie for some reason while others were staring at her with expressions of awe on their faces, but she blew the oddness of that off and headed down to her room to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Professor McGonagall approached Jamie at breakfast, "Professor Lockhart has requested that you are to do your detention with him this evening, Miss Potter."

"Oh n- Please Professor… can't I go to anyone else but him? Snape hates me but I'd even prefer him to that pervert."

"That's Professor Snape, Miss Potter, and I'd be careful of what you call other people, especially your professors, if you don't want to spend even more time in detention. You know that fighting is not allowed at Hogwarts, even if you were provoked, you really should work on your temper young lady."

"Okay, I'll go… but only if there's someone else in the room as well."

"I think that can be arranged," Professor McGonagall said with an evil gleam in her eye, "Eight O'clock sharp."

"Yes, Ma'am," Jamie said dejectedly.

* * *

Jamie spent most of the day she'd always thought of as her birthday, before Hagrid brought her her Hogwarts letter and let her know otherwise, in the library researching languages with Hermione. She was somewhat depressed from the lack of progress they had made in narrowing down the possibilities, when she went back to Gryffindor Tower to get ready for her detention by changing out of her favorite blue sundress into an oversized, off green knit sweater she had borrowed from Angelina who affectionately referred to it as one of her ugly, Christmas sweaters and a comfortable pair of black denim jeans.

When she arrived at the DADA classroom for her detention, she was greeted by a familiar drawl that she both loathed and had been hoping not to hear that evening, as she didn't think the blonde ponce would be of any use to her against the gleaming git.

"Nice look Potter," Malfoy said looking Jamie over sleazily.

"If that was supposed to be an insult, you've missed your mark," Jamie returned.

Malfoy didn't reply.

Lockhart's smile lost a bit of its gleam upon seeing Jamie's outfit, when he opened his office door to invite the girl into his office, hardly even noticing Malfoy following her. The detention the man had for them turned out to be one of the most horrifying tasks Jamie had ever heard of, and would likely give her nightmares about it for weeks, helping Lockhart answer his fan-mail; at least Malfoy would be right there with her in her misery. Both students probably could have just sat there doing nothing the whole time, as Lockhart's narcissism was so powerful within the man that Jamie doubted he even knew he wasn't alone most of the time. Lockhart finally let them go around eleven PM with a comment to the effect of "Great Scott, look at the time. I'd never have believed it, but it's really flown by. Now off you go."

Malfoy muttered, "Guess that beat cleaning the Trophy Room using Muggle means."

"I would have preferred that," Jamie replied quietly.

Realizing they'd actually said something civil to one another, both turned away with a shudder and hurried off to their respective dorms.

* * *

Monday morning started off strange as Lily Moon looked panicked, as Jamie entered the showers, and ran out of with soap still in her hair. Then the most exciting thing to ever happen since Jamie had started going to Hogwarts, and quite possibly since Binns became a professor, happened in History of Magic as Hermione interrupted the ghostly man to inquire about the Chamber of Secrets. The instructor's angry reply that he dealt with facts not myths and legends was belied by the fear radiating from him. After much cajoling, the class, who were also interested in the subject, finally dragged the story out of reluctant teacher.

Evidently, each of the four founders of Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin, had crafted special chambers for their personal use somewhere on the grounds. The location of Ravenclaw's "Chamber of Knowledge" is supposedly passed from Headmaster to Headmaster, while Hufflepuff's chamber was never completed before she died; Slytherin supposedly named his chamber "The Chamber of Secrets" and its location, like Gryffindor's "Chamber of Honor," has been lost to time. After Gryffindor and Slytherin had a falling out over how to handle muggles and muggleborn mages, Slytherin departed the school saying that one day his heir would reopen his chamber and if his enemies hadn't changed their ways, they would suffer his wrath.

* * *

"Hiya Harry," Colin said as he caught up to the girls on the way to dinner that evening.

"Hey Colin," Jamie answered with a sigh.

"Harry – Jamie – a boy in my class has been saying you're –"

"What, Colin? That I'm the Heir of Slytherin?" Jamie deduced judging from the actions of Lily this morning and Justin Finch-Fletchley at lunch today among others.

Colin nodded mutely.

"Ugh. People here will believe anything." Jamie muttered. "Say… Hermione… is it too late to sue Filch for slander or has this rumor that I'm a murderer spread and morphed too much for that already?"

Hermione shrugged, "Probably… but you might actually be related to Slytherin you know. Have you researched your family yet?"

"I hadn't really thought about that… but then… for all we know you or Colin might be related to him too, Hermione."

"That's less likely. Slytherin was anti-muggle."

"It's been nearly a thousand years since Slytherin was alive. That's a lot of generations to work through."

"Eh. You're right."

* * *

The rest of that week wasn't very pleasant for Jamie as more and more students started either avoiding her, or openly accusing her of being the Heir. Even Lockhart, using her name for the first time on Tuesday, got into the whole "Jamie Slytherin" thing, for the sake of publicity; of course he was still refusing to acknowledge she was a girl.

On Saturday the 7th, the whole school traipsed down to the Quidditch pitch for the first match of the year, Gryffindor vs Slytherin… or rather superior tactics and skill vs superior brooms and ruthlessness as Oliver put it in their last team meeting. Jamie was inexplicably nervous for some reason she couldn't identify. Maybe it was the thought of what Oliver would do if they lost, or maybe it was about going up against all those new brooms, or maybe it was just that this was her first match since becoming a girl, she really couldn't tell.

Oliver really didn't really help matters when he finished the team pep-rally speech with, "It'll be all down to you, Jaime. Show them that a Seeker has to have more than a rich father. Get the Snitch before Malfoy… or die trying."

"No pressure or anything, Jamie." Fred said winking at her.

Then George put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, buy his way onto their team."

As the game progressed, Jamie scanned the pitch for the elusive little golden ball she was going to beat Malfoy to, and could see that, while the Nimbus 2001s were the dream brooms for the Slytherin Chasers, their Beaters and Keeper were having difficulties compensating for the greatly improved acceleration rates over the brooms they were used to… this helped keep the scoring somewhat even. About ten minutes into the match, one of the Bludgers whizzed past Jamie's head, close enough to ruffle her hair. One of the Weasley twins batted it at the Slytherin Keeper, but about a third of the way to its intended target, the ball suddenly reversed course and headed straight for Jaime again. Ducking and dodging became her sole focus for the next few minutes while Fred and George did their best to help keep the errant metal sphere away from her. Oliver called a time out, and the rest of the team landed to discuss what was going on, Jamie however, not bereft of her two guardians was still flying in crazy patterns trying to avoid the Bludger that just wouldn't leave her alone. She was managing fairly well until she slowed down to tell Oliver and the Twins to just let her handle the bloody thing, the loss of momentum however allowed the rogue Bludger to hit her left leg, spinning her around rapidly and nearly unseating her, with a very audible crack, but she rocketed back into the air before anyone could say anything about it.

Because Jamie hadn't landed with the rest of her team, Madam Hooch awarded the Slytherins a penalty shot. Jamie took advantage of her crazy tag-along by rapidly shooting past different Slytherin players breaking up their formations. Malfoy took this as an affront and began taunting her. His eyes grew huge and he dived out of her way as she came speeding towards him suddenly. A moment later Jamie swooped down to the announcer's booth holding the Snitch aloft when, WHAM! The Bludger collided with her raised arm shattering more bones and knocking her out of the air to slam into the front of the stands before she fell nearly forty feet to the soggy ground below. As several teachers rushed to check on the fallen girl, none of them thought to stop the Bludger which, even though she was already on the ground was still pursuing her. Jamie managed to dodge its next strike, but then it hit her again crushing her pelvis before Dumbledore finally destroyed the thing.

The gleaming git grabbed Jamie's broken arm, ignoring her scream of agony and Hermione's pleas for him to leave Jamie alone, and cast what he claimed was a bone mending spell, but instead removed all the bones instead; at which point Jamie past out.

* * *

When she woke up in the Hospital Wing that evening, she was a little surprised to find that she was being magically restrained from moving, that is until Madam Pomfrey started listing all the things wrong with her. Besides the missing bones in her arm, crushed pelvis, and broken shin bone, she had three cracked ribs, a half dozen fractured or broken vertebra, internal bleeding and a myriad of other issues the Mediwitch didn't feel like telling her about. Madam Pomfrey then released the restraints on Jamie's right arm so she could read and feed herself, telling the young witch that she'd best get comfortable as she'd be in bed for at least two weeks.

Jamie was in agony, trying to rest, when her bed bounced with the arrival of a visitor in the middle of the night.

"Dobby!" Jamie cried loudly, hoping to bring her unexpected visitor to Madam Pomfrey's attention.

"Harry Potter came back to school," Dobby whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Harry Potter. Why did Harry Potter come here when she missed the train?"

"Missed the train? You mean _you_ blocked the barrier!" Jamie yelled angrily.

"Indeed yes, miss," Dobby nodded vigorously. "Dobby hid and watched for Harry Potter and sealed the gateway, miss. Dobby had to iron his hands afterward," the little guy raised his bandaged hands, "but Dobby didn't care, miss, for he thought Harry Potter was safe, and _never_ did Dobby dream that Harry Potter would go to school another way!"

"You'd better get lost before my bones heal, Dobby, or I might strangle you."

Dobby smiled weakly, "Dobby is used to death threats, miss. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."

"Not from me you haven't," she muttered darkly.

Dobby then turned slightly away and began to talk to himself, "Harry Potter must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to-"

"YOUR BLUDGER!" Jamie shouted, " _YOU_ MADE THAT BLUDGER TRY TO KILL ME?!"

"Not kill you, miss, never kill you," Dobby said sounding shocked. "Dobby wants to save Harry Potter's life! Dobby only wanted Harry Potter hurt enough to be sent home!"

"I don't suppose you would tell me why?"

"The Chamber of Secrets is open again. Harry Potter must leave! So noble… so valiant… Harry Potter must save herself." Just then the door to the infirmary rattled, and the little creature with the oversized green eyes said, "Dobby must leave," before snapping his bandaged fingers and disappearing.

Then both the door to Madam Pomfrey's office and the main door burst open simultaneously. Madam Pomfrey began to ask Jamie what she had been yelling about, when she noticed Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall levitating someone onto a nearby bed. The three then stood around discussing the situation and talking about how the Chamber of Secrets was indeed open again, but it sounded like the Headmaster knew who had opened it, but not how they had done so. When the three finally moved away from the bed, Jamie finally saw that it was Colin lying in the bed. She didn't really know him very well, but hoped he would be alright.

The following morning, Madam Pomfrey said she would relay Jamie's story about Dobby to the Headmaster and see about getting the house-elf blocked from the wards; but Jamie never heard anything back about how the Headmaster took the information.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I feel bad for Jamie, I beat her up so much worse than JKR did Harry…

Anyway, I hope you like the various interactions here some of them may or may not have an impact later in the story.

Next time - The Dueling Club and Winter Break!

Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	12. Of Snakes and Serpents

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 6**_ _ **–**_ _ **Of Snakes and Serpents**_

The good news about Colin getting attacked while she was there was that people had begun to doubt Mr. Filch's claims that Jamie was the Heir of Slytherin, the bad news from Hermione was, that Jamie in fact was an heir through her Father's Grandmother, Euphemia Gaunt, who's second cousin Thomas Riddle was the last of the main line of decedents and had attended Hogwarts some fifty years before. If Mr. Riddle was no longer around, then Jamie was indeed the next in line to inherit the title. Other than Professor McGonagall, who had been there when Hermione made the discovery, the girls were keeping this little tidbit of information to themselves.

After being laid up in the Hospital Wing for two and a half weeks, Jamie was finally allowed to return to classes. She had managed to keep on top of her homework thanks to the miracle that her writing hand had not been hurt by Dobby, but some instructors (Snape) demanded that she take make-up quizzes to make sure she understood the work. Even though Snap assigned her a potion from the fourth year coursework, Jamie completed the potion nearly flawlessly thanks to her mother's notes on the subject. This infuriated Snape who only gave her potion an A (for acceptable) instead of an O (for outstanding) as she thought she deserved.

"I'd really like to get that Sorting Hat a piece of my mind now," Jamie muttered after getting hit in the back by yet another of Malfoy's hexes, this one making her shoulder length hair stand on end and turn fluorescent green.

Hermione simply waved her wand casting a quick _Finite Incantatum_ to end the hex, then asked, "What about this time?"

"The Slytherins," the once again black haired girl stated, "It's supposed to be the house of the ambitious, cunning and sneaky indeed… more like house of the lazy, stuck up, and incompetent louts."

"Miss Granger. Miss Potter." The greasy haired Potions Master suddenly said behind them, "That will be five points from Gryffindor for doing magic the in the hallways, and another five for slandering the well-respected House of Slytherin."

Jamie waved her hand in the air dismissing the man, "See? Point proven."

Hermione shook her head as Snape said, "And a detention as well!"

"Oh, Merlin! Not more Lockhart fan mail! You can be so cruel Mr. Snape…" Jamie cried with an obviously fake, shocked voice and holding her hands to her cheeks.

"THAT'S PROFESSOR SNAPE!" He growled loudly turning red.

Jamie turned away and said just loudly for Snape to hear, "It would be… if you taught anything."

"Let's make that two more detentions and another ten points from Gryffindor then," Snape looked about ready to snap and start hexing the girl himself.

Rather than let Jamie goad the man any further, Hermione grabbed her arm and dragged the younger witch away.

* * *

The first week of December found a new notice on the bulletin board in Gryffindor Tower. It appeared that one of the teachers was going to sponsor a Dueling Club, and was holding an exhibition on Saturday evening after dinner, but it didn't say which teacher was involved. Speculation ran rampant through the school from Professor Flitwick, being a former Dueling Champion, to Headmaster Dumbledore himself, being the most powerful man in the magical realms. Jamie's former roommates however took their speculations in a wildly different direction as Seamus and Ron could be often overheard wondering if Slytherin's Monster could duel. Jamie and Hermione thought the club could be useful, so at eight o'clock they, along with practically everyone else in the whole school, returned to the Great Hall for the dueling demonstration.

When the gleaming git in plum colored robes took the stage, Jamie was all for leaving right then, but Hermione held her back.

"Maybe Professor Lockhart is better at showing what he knows than explaining it," Hermione said hopefully to Jamie quietly. She still held some hope that Lockhart knew what he was doing from all of the exploits detailed in his books.

"And what… all of his books were ghost-written or something? That man is worse at teaching than Snape is." Jamie replied just as quietly, but judging by the snickers of her fellow students, not quite as quietly as she'd thought.

A moment later Snape himself followed Lockhart onto the stage. Then Lockhart waved for silence and called, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Excellent!" the man then bowed to the crowd with a flourish. "Professor Dumbledore has graciously granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works."

"Get on with it," Snape growled snidely.

"Ah yes! Let me introduce my sporting assistant, the Great Professor Snape!"

"Well I guess that cinches it… Lockhart's a Slytherin," Jamie muttered.

Hermione looked affronted, "But in Year with the Yeti he clearly states he was in Gryffindor."

"Riiiight."

Lockhart continued, "Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry – you'll still have your Potions Master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

"Mores the pity," Ron said nearby.

Snape sneered irritably at the smiling Lockhart as the two faced each other. "Now as you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position; and on the count of three, we will cast our first spells." A tiny mote of nervousness entered Lockhart's voice when he finally noticed Snape's expression, "Neither of us aiming to kill of course. Heh heh…"

"Maybe you're right Hermione… Snape only looks at Gryffindors like that." Jamie said conceding the earlier point, to more snickering from the nearby students.

Lockhart twirled his wand as he counted down, and just as he said one Snape lazily drawled " _Expelliarmus_!" in a somewhat bored tone and with a quick flash of red light Lockhart slammed into the wall behind him to land sprawled and cross-eyed on the floor as his wand drifted lazily to Snape's waiting hand.

"Well there you have it!" The gleaming git then bounced back to his feet and quickly shook off the stunning effect of Snape's attack and stepped back onto the stage, "The Disarming Charm – yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy."

Snape looked murderous.

"Enough demonstrating!" Lockhart cried out, "Pair off and let's see how well you do with the disarming charms."

Jamie was game to partner with Hermione when Snape's greasy voice cut in and split them up. She wasn't afraid to face Malfoy, she just didn't think much of him as a human being, and of course the slimy git decided to cast on two instead of waiting for the countdown to finish first, and as the first spell was cast the entire room erupted into chaos. Jamie dodged the silvery light of the _Rictusempra_ , having no idea what it did, and countered with a Tickling Charm, making it very hard for Malfoy to breathe enough to cast anything else. Unfortunately she lowered her guard a little too much and he hit her with a _Tarantallegra_ which had her dancing crazily as Lockhart tried to reassert control over the room.

To make matters worse, in Jamie's opinion, Snape then called Malfoy and herself up to the stage, "for a proper duel."

"Now Harry," Lockhart said trying to coach her as Snape was doing Malfoy, "When Draco points his wand at you, do this…" he said as he wiggled his wand funnily before dropping it. "Whoops – my wand is a little overexcited –"

The man kept talking for about five minutes but Jamie tuned him out.

Unlike their first little tiff, Malfoy actually let the countdown finish before casting hexes Jamie doubted anyone at Hogwarts had taught him. Jamie tried using the Expelliarmus spell a few times, but neither combatant could land a solid blow on the other as both continuously dodged and jumped around the stage. Finally Malfoy cried, " _Serpentasortia_!" firing a spell not at Jamie but at the ground between them. Even Malfoy looked startled as a large black snake erupted from the end of his wand.

Not knowing why she did it, Jamie quickly snapped her left arm forward and said, "Cuesysseth!" and suddenly everyone was staring at Jamie, including the snake.

After a moment, Lockhart fired a spell at the snake, enraging it; and as it rushed towards the closest target it could see Jamie cried out "Cuesysseth! Neissenass!" pointing to the floor at her feet, and as the snake turned to move towards where she was pointing Snape drawled that he would "take care of it" before incinerating the poor creature. Having recovered from his shock of having a snake come out of his wand, Malfoy took advantage of everyone else being distracted to fire off another curse at Jamie instantly dissolving all of her clothing. Mortified, embarrassed and pissed, Jamie just pointed her wand at Malfoy and a burst of pure force flung the blond ponce away from the stage as she crouched down trying to cover herself as best she could.

Hermione rushed forward to throw her outer robes over Jamie and quickly took the naked girl back to Gryffindor Tower.

* * *

Speculation over Jamie being the Heir of Slytherin once again skyrocketed with the news that she was a Parselmouth, with some students even calling for her to be expelled as a dark witch, with Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley leading the call. What really irritated Jamie however, was that Malfoy wasn't even punished for what he had done to her in the Great Hall.

On her way to the Transfiguration classroom Tuesday afternoon at the end of her free period, to serve one of the detentions Snape had awarded her, Jamie stumbled onto a very odd scene; Sir Nicholas was floating even more lifeless than usual over the prone body of Justin Finch-Fletchley. Before she could do anything, Peeve swooped down on her and started shouting that another attack had occurred and no mortal or ghost was safe. The poltergeist made so much noise that all of the nearby classes suddenly rushed out into the hall and Ernie Macmillan, spotting Jamie standing nearby, cried that she'd been caught red-handed. Probably in an attempt to diffuse the situation, Professor McGonagall pulled Jamie away from the crowd and up to Dumbledore's office while the prefects corralled the students and the other teachers dealt with getting Justin and Nick to the infirmary.

The Headmaster's office was nothing like Jamie thought it should be, from the whimsical password of Lemon Drop, to the strange and intricate silver things emitting soft hoots, quiet whistles and puffs of different colored smoke, the only word that came to her mine was 'odd.'

On a high shelf sat the Sorting Hat, probably dreaming up yet another bad song for next year's Sorting Ceremony. Jamie briefly considered consulting with it again to see if Gryffindor was still the right house for her now that her secrets have been exposed… but she didn't want to see the disappointment on Hermione's face if the older girl ever found out Jamie doubted being in the same house as her best friend.

A burst of flame suddenly erupted on the far side of the room and Jamie turned to see a bird's ashes falling to the tray below its' perch. Just then the office door opened again and a very somber looking Headmaster walked in.

"Sir – your bird," Jamie gasped. "It just caught fire –"

Dumbledore smiled, "About time, too. He's been looking dreadful for days." He then chuckled at the stunned look on Jamie's face, "Fawkes is a phoenix, Harry, my boy; they are reborn from the ashes when they die."

"It's Jamie, sir," Jamie said with not a little exasperation in her voice, "Not Harry… and after that little exhibition in the Great Hall last weekend, I think only you and Lockhart still don't seem to get that… I'M A GIRL!"

When she left the Headmaster's office a short time later with his assurances that he did not think that she had had anything to do with the attacks, she was at least comforted to know she wouldn't be getting expelled, as Macmillan wanted, but was still rather annoyed with the old man for still refusing to acknowledge her as anything but a boy named Harry.

* * *

On the 19th, a week and a half later, most of the school's population departed, leaving Jamie and Hermione alone in the tower with the five Weasley siblings. The rest of the castle was likewise deserted with only three Ravenclaws (two first year boys and a sixth year girl), one Hufflepuff girl in Jamie and Hermione's year and a handful of Slytherins (which unfortunately included Malfoy) still in residence.

Ginny, who Jamie had noticed had looked somewhat ill recently, began to start looking better and took to sleeping in Lavender's bed at night so she wouldn't be alone at night during the break.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Remember… this is all from Jaime's point of view… and she hasn't noticed some things JKR mentioned in the books. Magic and Magical Creatures (as well as beings that see with magical sight like Voldemort under Quirrell's turban), could all tell from the start that Jamie was a girl.

Sakura Lisel – about the Thieves' Folly… Year 1 Segment 3 Part 2 Paragraph 1 has Hermione talking about Gringott's upgrading their security at breakfast on September 2nd. Also… Squibs are born from two Mage parents (the inverse of a Muggleborn)… a Mage and a Muggle can only make either a Half-Blood or a Muggle.

To all my Guest reviewers… thank you for your comments, but again… FanFiction-Net accounts are free… so please consider making one (it'll let me answer some of your questions without cluttering the chapters with footnotes and potential spoilers).

I hung out with my family for Father's Day, so sorry for not posting that day if you were expecting something. We went to see Wonder Woman (a very good movie though the relationship between Diana and Steve could have been a little more developed).

Anyway… the Parseltongue so far translates to:

Sslissee-asslissahsss? = What's that sound?

Eesssenass! =Come with me!

Cuesysseth! = Stop!

Neissenass! = Come here!

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	13. A Christmas Surprise

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 6**_ _ **–**_ _ **A Christmas Surprise**_

The week before Christmas, Jamie spent a lot of time in bed feeling miserable; her chest which had been itching on an off for over a month drove her to distraction when she tried to read, her stomach cramped so badly at times during the night she couldn't sleep, even her bones ached. Hermione had been wanting Jamie to go visit the school nurse, but the younger girl kept refusing saying that it was "just a bug" and "how did anyone expect their immune system to learn how to fight things off if they always ran to the nurse at the first sign of an issue."

Thursday night however changed all that, when Jamie awoke in the wee hours of the morning, lying in a puddle of warm liquid. Her bladder was full and insisting she take care of that need, she stumbled her way to the bathroom and realized she was covered in blood. She must have screamed, though she didn't remember doing so, because not a minute later Hermione had sent Ginny to wake Madam Pomfrey while she helped Jamie get cleaned up and into some fresh clothes.

When Madam Pomfrey told her she was experiencing her Menarche, Jamie questioned why the other things they had been taught in the "Magical Hygiene and You" class hadn't happened first; to which the nurse replied that Jamie was a bit of a special case as her body had been forced to be male for most of her life, it was possible that magic was just now trying to get her body back on track. The potion Madam Pomfrey gave her to drink eliminated the cramps almost instantly, and flushed all the remaining menstrual fluid from her body about an hour later

Jamie was released from the Hospital Wing shortly after breakfast began with an admonishment to come back and see the nurse if anything happened again. Hermione was happy Jamie was alright when she slid into the seat next to her at the breakfast table; but when Hedwig dropped off a little note from Professor McGonagall to come see her after at her earliest convenience (or rather immediately after breakfast), both girls got a little worried, so Hermione decided to tag along.

Professor McGonagall didn't notice Hermione slip in behind Jamie as she started in on the black haired girl in glasses, "I don't know why you chose to be stubborn this week Jamie. I heard what happened last night from Madam Pomfrey and I'm a little disappointed you didn't go see her when the cramping started."

"Please Aunt Minnie," Jamie replied figuring that if the Professor chose to be informal she could be as well, "I thought it was a little cramping nothing important… it's not like I could have figured it out since none of the other signs had even occurred yet."

"Be that as it may, the school's nurse is here for a reason, young lady. It would behoove you to utilize her services when you have the need of them."

"Yes, ma'am. Hermione's been saying much the same."

"You should listen to her more, Hermione's a bright young witch, and a good friend to you if I'm not very much mistaken."

"You're right Professor." Hermione finally spoke into the quiet of Professor McGonagall's office.

Professor McGonagall nodded politely, acknowledging the older girls comment while waving Jamie closer, "Well come on. Let's have a look at you." As Jamie stepped closer, Aunt Minnie tilted her head to the side, "I don't suppose you've noticed that you've grown about an inch since school started?"

"Actually ma'am, that's happened in the last week," Hermione interrupted.

"In a week?" the Deputy Headmistress repeated, shocked at the news.

"Yes, Aunt Minnie. Madam Pomfrey says it's probably due to my magic trying to force my body to get back on track to where it should have been all along."

"Well then. As I recall your mother was a bit of a bean sprout around your age. I'm having lunch with a friend this afternoon in Diagon Alley, perhaps I should take you with me and get some more clothing for you while we're at out."

"I'd like that, Aunt Minnie. I've been meaning to talk to someone at Gringott's but haven't figured out who to write to."

"Then perhaps we can do that as well," Aunt Minnie nodded.

Hermione touched Jamie's arm lightly, so Jamie asked, "Can Hermione come too?"

"I think not… I'll be stretching the rules a bit just taking you along, Jamie." Hermione looked somewhat disappointed, "Perhaps next time… if she can get her parents' permission that is."

"That's alright Professor. I think Ginny would get bored with just those boys in the tower to hang out with." Hermione said with a bit of forced cheerfulness.

"You two run along now, I have a bit of parchmentwork to do before we go. Do be back at eleven though, Jamie."

* * *

Just after eleven, Professor McGonagall led her through Diagon Alley rather swiftly into an area past Gringott's that Jamie had never explored before. Stepping into a little elegant bistro, the young girl began to wonder if she was perhaps underdressed for the occasion, as a very elegant woman with violet eyes and soft brown hair approached them and greeted Aunt Minnie warmly.

Jamie tried not to fidget as the two adults talked about and over her. The woman, who Aunt Minnie called Dromeda, seemed nice, but it was kind of hard to tell given the current environment and Jamie was nervous. When lunch was nearly over, Dromeda commented that Jamie was growing like a weed, and told Aunt Minnie to take her back to Madam Malkin's to get some proper cloths for a growing girl instead of to Twilfitt and Tattings which was right nearby.

Rebecca Malkin greeted Jamie before Professor McGonagall and commented right away about how much taller she'd gotten since the summer. After a bit of back and forth between the three of them, Jamie reluctantly agreed that it was for the best to give up her beloved jeans until her growth spurt was finished and settled on two new dresses and some over long school robes, hemmed up with temporary stitches to make them fit the girl's current size. Rebecca also gave Jamie a few different undershirts to try on when she noticed how sensitive the young witch's budding chest appeared to be. She also handed Jamie a small, muggle-style pamphlet about a hair removal spell with instructions on how to aim it properly to get a desired effect; Jamie wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but dutifully tucked the paper pamphlet into her school robe's pocket for later reading and research. As Jamie went to pay for her new clothes, Aunt Minnie said, "Happy Christmas," having already made the purchase for her.

When they got to Gringott's, they were fortunate to immediately get an open teller, however the goblin teller told her to see Master Crushbone about any issues regarding her holdings. Getting to see Master Crushbone however took nearly another hour.

"Let's see," the goblin master said when she asked him about her family's holdings other than the vaults here at Gringott's, "There's Potter House in Godric's Hollow, though that's little more than a ruin now, still might be worth something if you rebuild; Potter Manor and Estates in Scotland, probably quite lovely by your people's standards; The Gaunt and Riddle houses in Little Hangleton, neither of those are worth much now either; and then there's Slytherin Tower in South Wales. Your family's combined business holdings still being dealt with through Gringott's earn 1,947,375 Galleons per annum after fees and taxes; And there's more." The goblin said stopping as Jamie held her hand up.

"Can I get that in writing, sir? I'm sure the Professor McGonagall would like to get back to Hogwarts soon."

"10 sickles," the goblin said using an old, golden stamp like object to magically duplicate the manifest in front of him before handing her the copy as she paid him.

"And I can't touch any of that until I'm sixteen?"

"You cannot alter agreements, or divest your portfolio of any notable items until you are sixteen years of age; but you can touch them."

"Right… How do get keys so I can access Potter Manor and Slytherin Tower? Will you have them sent to me if they need to be made?"

"Twenty Galleons," The Master Goblin stated.

Jamie gave him twenty-five Galleons and thanked him for his time when he said the keys would be sent to her with directions to each location.

As it was so late when they left Gringott's, Jamie bought the Deputy Headmistress dinner at the Leaky Cauldron before they headed back to the school.

Jamie only had one present waiting for her when she got back to her dorm room that night, two books on etiquette (one muggle and one magical) from Hermione, who was a little embarrassed to be the only one to give the new girl a Christmas gift, until Jamie told her about Professor McGonagall buying new clothes for her that afternoon.

* * *

Meanwhile… when Albus heard that Minerva was planning a trip to Diagon Alley, he requested that she drop by Gringott's and transfer a thousand Galleons from Vault 704 to Cornelius Fudge. As she was planning to take Jamie there anyway and the request was not an unusual one for the Headmaster to make of the various Hogwarts staff members that happen to be heading near the bank, Minerva that little of the request and accepted. While Jamie was in meeting with Master Crushbone, the Deputy Headmistress approached another free teller to submit the Headmaster's request, and was very much surprised when the goblin denied the request because Dumbledore no longer had rights to access the Potter Family Vault. Minerva wasn't sure what she would tell the Headmaster when she got back to the school that evening, but she thought it best not to let Jamie know about the incident… at least for now.

* * *

The next morning Ron threw a small package to Jamie as she was passing through the common room on the way to breakfast. "Ginny didn't want you to miss this one," the youngest of the Weasley boys said in an offhand manor.

"Yeah –"

"We clubbed together –"

"To get you that," the Twins said in their typical bouncing speech.

Percy's nasally voice then cut in, "Ginny insisted."

"Thank you guys, but you really didn't have to," Jamie said as she opened the small box. Inside was a silver ring shaped like a coiled snake with sapphires for eyes. Jamie's eyes glistened a bit as she hugged Ginny who happened to be standing closest to her, "It's beautiful, thank you."

"We got that because you can talk to snakes not because we think you're the Heir of Slytherin," Ginny said quickly.

"I know," Jamie said to the group, then leaned in and whispered quietly to Ginny with a hint of sadness in her voice, "But I am the Heir… I'm just not attacking anyone."

Ginny looked shocked when Jamie pulled away, and Ron demanded to know what she'd said to his sister; to which Jamie flippantly said it had been something about the day before and walked away.

* * *

That afternoon Jamie joined Professor McGonagall in her office for lunch.

"I'd like to know your opinion of the lady we met with for lunch yesterday, Jamie," Aunt Minnie asked as the food arrived.

Jamie rubbed her chin in thought, "I don't really know her, but Dromeda seemed nice enough."

"I think first impressions are important, but not everything. You've certainly changed since I first saw you."

"I'm not sure I should take that as a compliment, Aunt Minnie."

"You should… and I'd like you to get to know Dromeda better; though I think you should probably start with calling her Cousin Andromeda first," she handed Jamie a crisp business card that read Barrister T. Tonks with an address in the Battersea area of London and in shiny purple ink the name Andromeda was neatly written across the top.

"She's my cousin?"

"Actually, your father's cousin… but yes."

"Do I have any other cousins I haven't heard about yet?"

"A few," Minerva said pouring herself some more tea, "in fact one of them is in your year here at Hogwarts."

Genuinely curious, Jamie asked, "Who?"

"Young Draco," the Deputy Headmistress stated.

"MALFOY!?"

Aunt Minnie nodded, "Indeed… it's so sad the two of you cannot seem to get along."

Shaking her head, Jamie replied, "When that blonde ponce stops hexing me in the back every chance he gets, I'll make an effort to try to be more friendly to him if you want me to… but he's got to make an effort first."

"Understandable. I'll see if I can't get the boy's Godfather to reign him in a bit."

Not knowing who Malfoy's godfather might be, Jamie simply said, "Thank you."

"There was one other thing I needed to ask you about. The Headmaster was concerned about your account at Gringott's…"

"And him no longer having access to it?" Jamie finished for her.

"Indeed, yes; that's it exactly."

"How did he find out? It's not time for tuition to be paid… Master Crushbone has instructions from my parents regarding my schooling so that shouldn't have been an issue."

"You'll need to ask him what he needed with your account, I do not know."

"Well, when he asks you for an answer, tell him that I removed everyone's access as I saw no need for sixteen people I do not know having access to my inheritance without my knowledge. That was one of the few things Master Crushbone allowed me to do since it seems that someone other than my parents allowed all of them to have access to begin with."

"Your Magical Guardian will need access to your accounts," Professor McGonagall said primly.

Suspecting the answer, Jamie asked, "And who is my Magical Guardian?"

"Doesn't your parents' Will say?"

Jamie shrugged, "Master Crushbone said that their files indicated that my parents left a Will, but the document itself is missing."

"So that's why…" Aunt Minnie started but then said, "I shall have to look into that."

After lunch was finished, Jamie left for the Owlery to write a letter to a cousin she just found out about while the Deputy Headmistress was writing several letters of her own regarding the discussion she'd just had with her student.

* * *

By the end of January, Jamie had grown two more inches and had to make a special trip to Hogsmeade to get her new clothing altered at Glad Rags. Thankfully her bones stopped aching, so she thought she was likely to stick to her new height of five foot six for a while. Also had a box from Master Crushbone containing the keys and directions to both Potter Manor and Slytherin Tower securely tucked away with her father's invisibility cloak, and she was curious to see what those two locations would hold for her when she finally got a chance to visit them.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I never imagined how writing this without Hagrid or the Polyjuice potion would really effect Year 2… but we're coming up on the Chamber itself… wonder who'll be down there for Jamie shows up.

Harry Potter's Trust account is Vault 687 while the Family Vault is 704 (the two vaults mentioned in the movies and Game Boy games). Also, Little Whinging Surry is approximately located where Stanwell Moor is in real life (directly West of Heathrow International Airport in London)… Since there is a Muggle Tours company in the North part of Southwark (in London) giving tours of Grimmauld Place… I'm placing that there. Since Hagrid crashed near Andromeda's House, during the Seven Harrys flight, and giving a bit of leeway due to Moody's mad courses, I'm putting the Tonks' House in the Battersea area (about a block and a half South of the Royal Academy of Dance… there are some sweet little three bedroom homes there that look pretty nice). Also… I've never been to England, so sorry if I mess things up from Googling the information I'm seeking…

If you happen to be looking at Potter Wiki or Pottermore and notice a few things off with the family trees… tough… I like the one most often referenced in fanfiction that reverses Charlus and Fleamont… to make this work on the Black side of things, you just have to remove Cygnus the third… this also makes James and Sirius cousins.

StacyGrrl2002 … you have such an imagination and way with words …

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	14. Jamie Goes Down the Hole

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 7**_ _ **–**_ _ **Jamie Goes Down the Hole**_

The only good thing about Valentine's Day was that it fell on a Sunday this year, and Jamie could hide in her room most of the day. Unfortunately she didn't have that option as she couldn't take meals there and had an errand to run for her aunt, letters to send, and yet another detention to serve with the gleaming git.

The morning started off with Cormac McLaggen cornering her in the common room and asking her to go with him to Hogsmeade on a date. This was pretty easy for her to turn down as second-years were not permitted to go to Hogsmeade, but the boy was very persistent until the blessed intervention of the Terror Twins allowed Jamie to escape down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Being rather tired from the late Quidditch practice the night before, where Jamie would have sworn Oliver was trying to kill the whole team in preparation for the match against Ravenclaw next weekend, she didn't notice anything amiss until she sat down in her usual seat at the Gryffindor table.

Pink.

Pinks of every hue were plastered on every surface Jaime's eye landed on, with large, lurid pink flowers dominating the walls, dark pink confetti hearts falling from the pale pink enchanted ceiling, and the worst by far was the gleaming git himself, in pink robes, beaming his unnatural smile at every one and taking credit for the decorations. The other professors did not look pleased, judging from the muscle twitching on Professor McGonagall's cheek and the darkest scowl Jamie had ever seen on Snape's face (even darker than what he usually directed at herself). Lockhart then clapped his hands saying he'd hired Cupids to help pass notes around for the day as a dozen sourly dwarves in angel wings and carrying harps and toy bows came into the Great Hall.

"And here I thought Lavender was bad," Hermione said as she sat down beside Jamie, "that girl must be in heaven today."

"True," Jamie replied, thinking of how Lavender had changed all the Gryffindor colors on her bed to various shades of pink instead. "But this does give me an idea."

"This… gives you an idea?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Sure. After McLaggen's little display this morning, I feel like I'm likely to get at least a few notes by dwarves from him at least. So anytime I get a note, I'll send the dwarf off with one to either Lockhart or Snape with love notes from one to the other. I'll even give them a Galleon to sing the note badly if there happens to be witnesses nearby."

"You Miss Potter?" one of the dwarves asked her suddenly.

"Yes."

"I have a Valentine here for you."

"Hermione dear," Jamie said sweetly, batting her eyelashes playfully at the other girl, "I seem to have left my bag in the room, may I borrow a quill and some parchment please?"

Hermione muttered something like "aiding and abetting" as she handed over the supplies.

Writing a quick Valentine, Jamie handed it to the Dwarf, "Please deliver this after breakfast."

"You're going to get them all killed you know." Hermione said after the dwarf had moved away.

"Nah… Snape will go after the one that caused it first."

"Meaning you?"

"Well, he comes after me anyway… but I meant Lockhart."

Curious, Hermione asked, "Who is your Valentine from?"

"Don't know, and don't care." Jamie replied setting it on fire unopened.

Both girls then grabbed a couple slices of toast and some bacon, trying to avoid as much confetti as possible, as they left the Great Hall.

* * *

Heading back to Gryffindor Tower from having sent a letter to Master Crushbone regarding the "staff" listed for the properties she now owned and one to Cousin Andromeda asking about some of the things she'd read in the etiquette books Hermione had given her for Christmas, Jamie was cornered by a very annoying dwarf who had a Valentine for her. Unlike the ten or so before that she'd just burned instead of opening, this Valentine the dwarf had been ordered to sing to her. Clearing his throat, the dwarf sang:

 _ **Her eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,**_

 _ **Her hair is as dark as a blackboard.**_

 _ **I wish she was mine, she's really divine,**_

 _ **The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.**_

Jamie hung her head in shame at how bad it was, and was about to hand the dwarf her next Valentine to Snape, when she paused, "Wait… who is that from?"

"Don't know. 'Andsome chap didn't give 'is name."

"Would you describe him for me please?"

"'Bout your height, blonde, grey eyes… had two big kids following 'im around."

Rummaging through her bag she pulled out a clean parchment and quickly wrote:

 _ **Dear Cousin Draco,**_

 _ **What's that thing called,**_

 _ **Where your crush likes you back?**_

 _ **Oh yes!**_

 _ **Your DREAMS.**_

 _ **With Love,**_

 _ **Harriett**_

"That'll confuse him." Jamie muttered, handing a Galleon to the dwarf, "Please deliver this _Singing_ Valentine during lunch."

* * *

Lunch was a rather amusing affair; after burning anther three Valentine's notes unopened, the show began. At the head table, a rather timid looking dwarf approached Snape, the sound dampening spell the professors used to keep their conversations from reaching the ears of students prevented Jamie from knowing just which of her sonnets were about to be delivered in badly sung verse, but Snape blanched when the dwarf appeared to start singing and strumming his harp. The other professors appeared highly amused at this, as Lockhart was openly laughing and Professor McGonagall hid her chuckles in her napkin. Jamie could easily tell when the tune ended, as Snape then looked furious, Lockhart blanched, and Headmaster Dumbledore even started chuckling.

While Jamie was focused on the Head Table, another dwarf had apparently stopped next to her cousin at the Slytherin table and started singing to him. The whole hall burst into laughter as Malfoy turned beet red; then Crabbe scratched his head and asked, "Who's Harriett?" This made those who heard the question, laugh even harder.

Rushing to get to her detention on time after lunch, Jamie ducked into the loo near the DADA class and had the unfortunate opportunity to make acquaintances with Myrtle, the resident moping ghost in the third stall. How Jamie managed to get out of there without being drenched in toilet water she didn't know, but it might have had something to do with being polite and agreeing to come back and talk to the ghost some more.

A more pleasant surprise awaited her at the DADA classroom however, as little Professor Flitwick was handling her detention instead of Lockhart. Instead of writing endless platitudes to the simpering hordes of Lockhart fans, she spent the afternoon ducking, dodging, and countering spells as the part goblin showed off his dueling skills.

Starting to grow tired, Jamie cast a spell she'd studied from her mother's notes, rolling her wand about the outside of her hand and crying, " _Aster-aspis!_ " as she slashed it along the floor in front of her. A mostly transparent wall shimmered into existence, slightly distorting the sight of her opponent, and then stopped to catch her breath.

Professor Flitwick, seeking to press his advantage, kept firing spells at the girl and was a little surprised that they were all being deflected away from her. After a moment, and a dozen spells, the little professor stopped and started analyzing the shield wall Jamie had thrown up.

"Intriguing, Miss Potter, where ever did you come up with this?" Professor Flitwick asked as if they hadn't been dueling for an hour.

"It was… in my mother's notes… I thought they… were from her time… here at Hogwarts…" Jamie panted in response.

"Your mother indeed! She was quite gifted but this? This could be very useful. Would you mind if I took a look at those notes, Miss Potter?"

"I suppose so… she said something about… rejecting this one though… something about it… making it hard to… cast other spells while using it… It does nothing… against physical attacks."

"What is it called?"

"Aster-aspis, the Star Shield… the counter is _Apoluo!_ " Jamie said demonstrating by taking the wall down.

"Well then. I'm not sure it's proper, Miss Potter, this being a detention and all, but five points to Gryffindor."

"Thank you, sir." Jamie said, her breathing finally starting to slow.

"Shall we continue?"

Reluctantly, Jamie raised her holly wood wand, and readied herself for a lot more exercise.

* * *

With Easter rapidly approaching, Oliver was once again stepping up the Quidditch practices saying that their win over Ravenclaw by ten points was too close and he never wanted that to happen again, and the second year students had a new dilemma dropped on them; what electives to take starting third year.

"I'm signing up for everything," Hermione stated boldly.

"I don't think you can," Jamie replied, "besides, you can get the OWLs for Magizoology, Divination and Muggle Studies without taking the actual classes… so I'm thinking Arithmacy, Ancient Runes, and… I don't know… Ancient Studies maybe? That will at least be more interesting than History of Magic."

Both girls were rather disappointed in the boys of their year, as all of them chose to do the 'easy' classes of Divination and Magizoology, or Care of Magical Creatures, as they called it.

* * *

On the 17th, Jamie had just tied her shoulder length hair up into a high pony tail in preparation for the game against Hufflepuff that was about to begin in about five minutes, when Professor McGonagall burst into the locker room stating that the game had been cancelled and that all students were to return to their common rooms at once, before telling Jamie to follow her elsewhere.

"What has happened Professor?" Jamie asked, quickly following the Deputy Headmistress back up to the castle.

Professor McGonagall looked grim, "There has been another attack.

"Surely they aren't blaming this on me again? I've been in the locker room with the team since breakfast."

"Not this time, Miss Potter, but the two victims are, the sixth year Ravenclaw prefect, Miss Clearwater and," She paused for a second, "Your friend Miss Granger."

"Hermione!"

"The two girls were found just outside of the library. You would not happen to know why she was in the library this morning would you, Jamie?"

"Not specifically. We've been doing some research on Parseltongue and Parsel-magic lately, but also research for Professor Flitwick on some charms my mother made. If Miss Clearwater was with her though… she might have just been revising for exams again."

When they arrived at the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey asked Jamie about a mirror the girl was holding so tightly they couldn't pull it from her hand. Jamie wasn't sure, but mentioned the angle suggested trying to look around a corner at something rather than at her own reflection. Not long after Professor McGonagall left to speak with the Headmaster about Jamie's speculation, Madam Pomfrey shooed Jamie out of the infirmary as well.

* * *

Two days later, Jamie was rather disappointed, but not really surprised, that Madam Pomfrey had closed the Hospital Wing to visitors, when she and Ginny went to see Hermione. Most of the school had been traipsing in there trying to get a look at "Slytherin's Victims" as some had taken to calling the petrified students. While walking back to Gryffindor Tower, however, Jamie suddenly stopped in the middle of the hall.

Turning slowly in place, Jamie was flipping her hand around and whispering to herself to quietly for Ginny to hear, so the young redhead asked, "What is it?"

"Oh… just thinking," Jamie said as she turned and started walking again.

"About?" Ginny inquired.

"The attacks."

The younger girl sighed, "Of course…"

"Think about it," Jamie said stopping again, next to a new tapestry that was covering the bloody message from Halloween, that Mr. Filch had not been able to remove yet, "Mrs. Norris, just here. Nick and Justin over that way near the Charms classroom. Hermione and Penelope over that way near at the library. Everything that has happened has happened near here."

"So?"

"I overheard the Headmaster talking to Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall when Colin was attacked. The chamber has been opened before and a student died as a result."

"Okay?"

"What if she never left?"

"You mean Myrtle?" Ginny looked a little afraid of the ghost.

"I mean Myrtle," Jamie affirmed. "She told me she died in the stall she stays. In that loo there," Jamie pointed to the nearby lavatory.

"You don't think?"

Jamie shrugged, "Only way to find out is to go look."

Ten minutes of searching later, Jamie noticed a small snake engraved on the wall behind the sink directly across from the third stall, and after only a few tries, she said " _Sahissah_ " and the sink dropped through the floor so quickly that Jamie was caught off balance and fell in, as Ginny screamed.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Who wants detention with Professor Flitwick?

I wish you all could read this the way I see it as I type it out… it's so much better looking in the _Blacksword_ font I use (it's free if you want to check it out).

For those of you who are curious…

Aster-aspis = Star Shield (Greek) a glowing, semi-transparent, prism wall that skews magic passing through it, making it very difficult to hit your target with direct spells

Apoluo = Release (Greek)

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	15. In the Chamber

_Summery_ _–_ _The Door Marked F! … When all spells are washed away, the truth may be a bit shocking._

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 8**_ _ **–**_ _ **In the Chamber**_

Ginny's scream echoed down the hall and the two closest instructors came to find out what was going on; thinking perhaps there had been yet another attack.

When Lockhart rushed in to the Girl's Lavatory a loud wailing alarm went off, but Professor Flitwick quickly silenced it, "What… what seems to be the problem Miss Weasley?" Lockhart asked rubbing his ear.

Ginny just pointed at the hole in the floor and whispered, "Jamie…"

"Ah yes! The Chamber at last! Well found Miss Weasley, well found!" Lockhart cried. He then tried to back away, but Ginny grabbed his robe and slipped between him and the doorway.

"Go help her!" Ginny demanded, "You're the Defense teacher aren't you? It's your job!" With each word she shoved him a little until suddenly he too fell down the hole.

"Oh dear," Professor Flitwick said with a hint of amusement to the girl who was shocked to have just done that to a professor, "Miss Weasley, if you would, please go find the Headmaster and send him here. I'll try to keep the entry open until Miss Potter and Professor Lockhart have returned."

"Yes, professor…" Ginny said woodenly, then came to herself and bolted from the room.

* * *

At the bottom of a long, dark, and slimy tube, Jamie slid to a stop amongst the discarded bones of a lot of creatures; many of them small, like rats and chickens, but some vaguely horse-like and others completely unidentifiable by the twelve year old girl. Not knowing what might be down here with her, she quickly removed her completely ruined outer robe, to free up her movement, and cast an Aster-aspis wall across the mouth of the tunnels leading deeper in to the underground area in case someone else was down here and decided to attack from the shadows.

A moment later a loud squealing sound erupted from the tunnel she'd dropped out of, and Lockhart came shooting into the room, looking distinctly less gleaming than usual. Bouncing up to his feet, Lockhart chuckled, "Well my… girl. You seem to be alright, let's get you back out of here."

Completely caught off-guard she asked the man, "What finally gave it away that I was a girl? The slime covered tee-shirt sticking to my…"

"Now, now. No need to be crass." Lockhart interrupted her.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to show your stuff, _Professor_."

"What?"

"We're not getting out of here that way," Jamie said waving a hand towards the entry tunnel, "Might as well see what's down here and hopefully find another exit." She walked into the tunnel and cast a _Lumos_ to light the way ahead.

"I think not," Lockhart said firmly, Jamie turned back towards him to see Lockhart pointing his wand at her. "Don't worry, I'll make you famous with my next book, my dear, but you won't remember a thing; no one ever does. _Obliviate!"_

A lavender colored spell detonated on the wall next to Jamie blasting her down the tunnel and causing the ceiling to start to cave in. Scrabbling backwards as fast as she could to avoid being crushed by the collapsing rocks, Jamie wondered just what the heck the idiot had been thinking. Once the rocks stopped falling, she could tell the passage back was completely blocked and would take quite a while to clear out, if it was possible at all. Dusting off her skirt, Jamie looked around and not seeing any other option, she continued down the dark tunnel.

Passing by the biggest snake skin she'd ever heard of, let alone seen, Jamie decided to try out some of the Parsel-magic spells Hermione had found for her during their studies. The first was just a general identification spell, but the odd color really didn't tell her much beside the snake was magically resistant to most magic, however when she recast it on the 'head' of the snake skin she got a highly venomous result from the mouth area, and curiously enough also from the eyes. Trying to distract herself from just how nervous she was to be down here, she started talking to herself, "Gigantic, magically resistant snake with a poisonous bite and gaze? I wish Hermione was here… she could probably identify this thing in a heartbeat… and then tell me just how screwed I am, so maybe it's better that she's not here."

After passing through several small rooms and finding several more snake skins and a ton more bones, she finally came to a large silver door with a very large snake embossed on it, "Whatever could this be, I wonder…" she muttered, "Well, it worked before… _Sahissah_!" The eyes on the snake flashed green and the door swung open, "I can't believe the password is 'open up,' but then again if not many people can speak a language, why not?"

The next chamber was fairly large, lined with large snake like statues and green torches reflecting off recessed pools of what appeared to be water. At the far side of the room from the door, was an extremely ugly stone face with what looked like snakes for hair, "a male gorgon?"

"Not hardly," a voice replied from deeper in the chamber, "Do you not recognize the greatest of the Hogwarts Founders?"

"Well, I've never actually seen any of them before." Jamie replied casually.

A young man, or rather teenage boy, stepped out of the shadows, "Who are you that comes to my ancestor's chambers unbidden?"

"Ancestor's? You're claiming to be the Heir of Slytherin then?"

"I am the Heir of Slytherin!"

"Not hardly," she said repeating his earlier words, "I'm the Heir of Slytherin since the last Heir murdered my parents and died trying to kill me."

"You lie! Lord Voldemort can never be defeated!"

"What would you know of that tosspot?"

Waving his wand, the boy wrote three words in the air between them, "Tom Marvolo Riddle… my name," he said, then waved his wand again rearranging the letters to read 'I am Lord Voldemort.'

"Really… you want to claim my dead cousin's name? Why don't you get a life kid."

"Oh, I am. And as soon as I've finished draining little Leanne over there, I'll take great pleasure in finishing off what my former self somehow failed to do."

Now that Tom had pointed her out, Jamie could see a small blonde girl laying uncomfortably off to the side near the face of Slytherin. "You'll never succeed like this Thomas."

"My name is not Thomas! Don't call me by that filthy muggle's name!"

Jamie chuckled at that, "What? The Great Lord Pureblood is nothing but a Halfblood himself? Now that's just funny Thomas."

He let out an exasperated growl and turned to the face of Slytherin crying out in Parseltongue, "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four!" To Jamie's surprise and horror, the mouth on the statue opened and a great, black snake came pouring out. Thomas then turned and said coldly to the snake, "Kill this wench."

Hardly even thinking, Jamie quickly said to the snake, "No! Don't kill this wench… go back to sleep."

"I hear the call of my master's blood," the snake said, "I must obey the one of my master's blood." The snake then slid disgustingly back into the mouth of the stone face of Slytherin.

"How dare that creature disobey its master!"

"Don't you get it Thomas? You are not its master, I am. _Expelliarmus!_ "

Thomas laughed as Jamie's spell passed through him with no effect. "Aw, aw, aw… you can't hurt me little cousin, but I can hurt you! _Confringo!_ "

Jamie had never been happier to have had detention with Flitwick than at that moment as she easily dodged the blasting curse Thomas sent at her. Since direct attack hadn't worked, she decided to throw up a series of Star Shields to make hitting her harder, while she tried to come up with a strategy that might work against him.

"Lousy shields… take this! _Crucio!_ " the unblockable curse bounced through the shields and struck a statue instead of Jamie, "Impossible!"

"Oh no," Jamie replied as taunts were currently her only weapon to fight with, "Obviously it's possible, I mean, you _JUST_ saw it happen."

"I didn't believe it when Miss Laughland wrote to me that you had survived the killing curse, but now this!" He threw his hand up in frustration, "What are you?"

"Me? I'm just a twelve year old girl with a bookworm for a best friend and some rockin' notes from my dead mother to play with." As the fight had progressed Jamie had noticed that Thomas seemed to be getting more solid, but when he mentioned Leanne had 'written' to him, she glanced at the fallen girl again and noticed a small black book in her outstretched hand. "Now that I've said what I am… what are you?"

"A memory, trapped in the pages of a diary for fifty long years; but no longer in moments the girl will be dead and I will be free to rule once more."

Not quite sure why she did it, Jamie put her wand away and drew the dagger from the holster she took from the Gaunt Vault at Gringott's, it really didn't look like anything special to Jamie, but Master Crushbone had said it was one of the items she was not allowed to part with. Dashing over to Leanne, Jamie picked up the diary, "So this is where you live?" she asked flipping the book open to see nothing but blank pages.

Thomas laughed when he noticed the dagger in her hand, "I've protected that book with every piece of magic I could find, nothing can harm it."

"We'll just have to see about that," Jamie stabbed the book, and Riddle screamed, so she stabbed it again, and again, but what was really odd was the book was unharmed.

"Where… where did you get that knife?" Thomas asked fading quickly.

"The Gaunt Family Vault," Jamie said with a smile as she raised the blade again, "didn't look like much, but there really wasn't much left in there, so I took it." And with a final stab, the ghost of Voldemort, or Memory rather, disappeared.

* * *

It took Jamie nearly two hours to drag the unconscious Leanne back through the tunnels to the cave in, making sure she hadn't over looked an exit on the way in. While a sigh, she began moving rocks in what was surely going to be a very long night. After twenty minutes she had barely made any headway on clearing the tunnel when suddenly the rocks she had already moved started flying back towards the mess and all the collapsed rubble began shifting and lifting themselves back into the ceiling.

"Well hello there Harry," the Headmaster said happily with a twinkle in his eye.

"Headmaster," Jamie answered wearily, "The monster shouldn't be a problem anymore."

Professor McGonagall looked startled, "You killed a Basilisk?"

"That thing's a Basilisk?" Jamie returned, carefully not saying that it wasn't dead.

"Miss Granger figured it out the day she was petrified, she's recovered nicely and very worried about you young Harry," the Headmaster replied. "Might I inquire as to what happened down here?"

"My evil murderous bastard of a cousin left an evil diary that was stealing Miss Laughland here's life to resurrect the tosser."

"I see… Are you both well then?"

"Miss Laughland hasn't woken up yet, so we should probably get her to the Hospital Wing, but I haven't seen any other way in or out of here than that tunnel behind you. So I was hoping you'd have a suggestion on how to get back up to the school."

"Indeed I do Harry, indeed I do."

With a trill of beautiful music, a scarlet plumed bird burst into existence in a flash of flame and Dumbledore grabbed ahold of its tail fathers while everyone else that was awake grabbed ahold of Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall held onto Leanne. In another burst of flame, they were all back up in the Girl's Lavatory with Myrtle.

Not taking any chances, Jamie turned and said " _Sasstha_ " closing the entry to the chamber.

With everyone revived, and the situation with Slytherin's Monster dealt with, life in the castle shifted to what it was supposed to be during the last five weeks of class, and exams.

* * *

On the 18th of May, three days before the end of term, the Deputy Headmistress called Jaime into her office.

"I have a little surprise for you Jamie," Professor McGonagall said in greeting.

Jamie tilted her head, curiously and waited.

"You know I've been trying to arrange foster-ship for you, and I believe I've found the perfect one for you."

"Oh?" Jamie said trying to drag some information out of her semi-aunt.

Professor McGonagall nodded, "Yes. The couple had a daughter graduate from Hogwarts last year, and were delighted at the prospect of helping you get set up in life."

Jamie decided to try a more direct approach, "And who are these nice people, Aunt Minnie?"

"Your cousin Andromeda and her husband Ted."

Happily surprised, Jamie said, "Really?"

"Dromeda will be picking you up from King's Cross Saturday when the train arrives there, do try to be on it this time."

"Yes Aunt Minnie," Jamie replied cheerfully.

Later that day, Jamie sent Hedwig off with a note to Master Crushbone to have Andromeda Tonks added to her accounts as her new Magical Guardian.

* * *

Dobby visited Jamie once more their last night at Hogwarts. The little elf was overjoyed that Jamie had survived, the diary was stripped of magic, and his master's plans had been foiled. When he went to punish himself for speaking ill of his family, Jamie, having figured out he belonged to the Malfoys, asked him to join her on the trip to London on the Hogwarts Express the next day on the condition that he no longer try to save her life unless she personally asked him to do so, and if things worked out as she thought she could manage them, then he would not have to deal with the Malfoys again.

Hermione at first questioned why Dobby was with them the next day, but soon became used to his presence and started talking with Jamie about the exams they had taken and wondering how well they had done on them. When Malfoy stepped into their compartment for his usual taunting visit, Jamie turned the tables on him, pulling out a scarf and saying that she wanted him to have a token of friendship from her to help him get over his crush on her. Red faced, Malfoy threw the scarf into the corner and left.

Dobby, having been as quiet as he could be during the visit was ecstatic as Malfoy left, as Jamie's scarf had landed on his head. Jamie reminded the hyper little elf not to try saving her life again, and then told him that she knew of a tower in South Wales that could probably use some cleaning if he'd be interested in a new job.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Perhaps I should explain the effect of the Aster-aspis a little better… think of it as a pane of glass that has a thin coating of butter smeared all over it… you can easily see through it, but if the butter isn't completely smooth, shooting a laser light through it from either side will not reach your intended target. The effect of the Star Shield on magic is a bit stronger, but anything physical, like a rock, can pass right through as if it isn't there.

For those of you who are curious…

The Dagger of Morea Slytherin, Salazar Slytherin's wife, is a spell slicer. A weapon highly coveted by curse breakers and pretty much illegal to own, though there is no specific laws concerning them as there are so few in existence. It is a Goblin Forged weapon like the Sword of Gryffindor, and that may come back up later.

Cormac McLaggen is in the same class as Katie Bell… one year ahead of Jamie and Hermione.

Leanne Laughland (who's blonde in the books) is Katie Bell's friend. The two were together when Katie was cursed in book 6 and both joined the D.A. …Laughland is the last name of the actress that played her in the movies.

If you're wondering where I'm getting the Parseltongue from… I'm making it all up (but I am keeping a glossary to keep everything consistant).

Sahissah – open up

Sasstha – close

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… next time: Summer School.


	16. Summer School

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 1**_ _ **–**_ _ **Summer School**_

As the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, a young, black hair girl was anxiously awaiting seeing the woman who was to pick her up as she departed the train. Had she been going back to 4 Privit Drive, Little Whiging, Surry, she didn't think she would have survived the trip to the house, let alone the whole of summer before school started again; but not only was Jamie not the wizard they thought that they knew and hated, she wasn't even a boy. Thankfully however, Jamie wasn't headed to the house of her mother's sister, Petunia, and that group of despicable Muggles, she was heading to a new place to live with her cousin Andromeda and her family.

"Wotcher Harry!" A woman with light brown hair and purple eyes called as Jamie stepped off the train.

"Nymphadora?" Jamie asked, since the other girl looked like a younger version of Jamie's cousin Andromeda.

The woman looked disgusted, "Please don't call me that, Harriett. Most people just call me Tonks, but I don't think that will work around the family."

"How about just 'Dora' then?" Jamie suggested, "But only if you call me Jamie."

"Mom calls me that a lot. She wanted to be here to pick you up, but got called into work; something about a major accident near Northaw, and they needed a few extra healers to handle the overflow." Dora stated, shifting her hair to short pink spikes.

Envious of the Metamorphmagus' ability, Jamie said, "Wish I could alter my hair at will like that."

"Right handy trick for an Auror, but it's tricky to hold for a long time. I usually just use muggle products to set up a look I want to use all the time, like these pink spikes, and then shift it from there if I have a need to. Mom can do this too, it's just a lot harder for her, so she usually doesn't bother."

They grabbed a taxi headed South out of King's Cross and crossed the Thames River into Battersea, and over to the Fred Wells Gardens.

"Your parents live here?" Jamie asked as they walked along Vicarage Crescent, "looking around at all the muggles and muggle made buildings.

"Muggles see what they want to see, mostly," Dora shrugged, "It's not easy hiding Wizard made houses in areas like this though, so mom and dad just bought something Muggle and made it better inside. Here we are," she said stopping in front of a three story brick duplex. "Welcome home."

The place had looked large from the outside, but the inside was truly massive, from the six bedrooms on the top floor to the large study in the basement (that Hermione loved when she saw visited). Jaime only had two houses to compare it to, but it looked nothing like either the Dursleys' sterile and lifeless lifestyle, nor the Weasleys' semi-controlled and haphazard chaos at the Burrow… it was clean and inviting and… home… she didn't know how else to describe it… it just felt 'right' to her somehow.

After giving the new girl a minute to stare in awe, Dora lead Jamie upstairs to get settled into her new room, which was nearly as large as her dorm room at Hogwarts that she shared with three other girls. In a fit of whimsy, once Dora had left her alone, Jamie threw all of her clothes about the room, to make it looked "lived in" as some would say, but then took the next hour cleaning up her mess, that look just wasn't her.

* * *

Jamie spent the next week either redecorating her room with Cousin Andy and Dora, exploring the house, or doing her summer homework for school; and so she had nearly nothing left to do when Andy announced that, since she couldn't just let Jamie lay about the house all summer, and had enrolled the new fosterling into the Royal Academy of Dance's summer school program. So on June 1st, Jaime hiked the quarter mile to the school to attend her very first dance class at seven o'clock in the morning, wearing a purplish leotard under her jumper and skirt, with her hair up in a bun, and a pair of pink ballet slippers in her bag.

While Andy had arranged for Jamie to join the other kids her own age, Jamie knew that she would need to take some of the fundamentals classes before she was ready for that group, and so paid to switch to individual instruction. As she had predicted, Jamie was terrible at first, barely managing to pass with a forty-three on her exam at the end of the first week of her tutelage with Madam Dunn, but she stubbornly decided to stick with it to please her cousin. Each week, Madam Dunn would add new skills for Jamie to master, or add on another dance style to practice on top of her ballet, such as a Waltz or Merengue, occasionally having another student partner her to learn both leading and following, but often times doing the leading part herself. By the end of July, Jamie finally scored a meritus seventy on her weekly dance tests and had grown to like dancing quite a bit.

During this time, Jamie was writing to Hermione and Ginny regularly. Ginny's father Author Weasley had won seven hundred Galleons in a lottery at work and had taken the family to visit her oldest brother Bill in Egypt where he worked as a Cursebreaker for Gringott's; and Hermione was also undertaking individual tutelage from a place nearby, but she wouldn't go into details about what she was learning. Ginny loved writing about the pranks the twins were pulling on Percy and Ron, but mostly Percy as he had just been named the new Head Boy for the coming year at Hogwarts, and she was a little annoyed with her mother for not allowing her to have a bit more fun like the boys were having.

Andromeda was appalled by Jamie's handwriting the first time she'd noticed it, and so every night after dinner Jamie would sit in the study practicing letters on lined parchment until her cousin approved of the way the letters looked. Jamie found this rather annoying at times, but agreed that having better penmanship would be an asset later in her life, and often spent an extra hour or two in her room simply writing the alphabet over and over.

* * *

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles from London, deep inside of a cold damp rock of an island, a man sat shivering, as he stared at the dirty, ragged, month old newspaper on the floor before him. "He's at Hogwarts," the man whispered with a hiss. That night, something that had never happened before in the history of the prison known as Azkaban occurred, when the guards delivered the man's dinner, they found his cell empty.

* * *

Jamie burst into tears when Hermione and Ginny showed up unexpectedly on the doorstep bearing birthday presents for her. Both girls had arranged it with Andy to stay with her at the Tonks' house for the next week, as a birthday present to both Jamie and Ginny, and though Jamie often danced around the room and tried teaching the other girls some of what she'd been learning, both Jamie and Hermione took that week off from their summer school work. Jamie had wanted to go visit Potter Manor and Slytherin Tower, but Andy wouldn't let the girls go by themselves and since Ted was stuck in court all week, Dora was in training, and Andy herself was on call to work at St. Mungo's, none of them could go supervise a visit; however, the girls did take the opportunity to go to Diagon Alley to collect their supplies for the coming school year.

The moment they stepped through the door Rebecca Malkin greeted Jamie by name and directed them to a private room in the back. Jamie had a special gift she wanted to give the other two girls, but actually needed them to be present when she purchased the outfits for them, so while the other two thought Madam Malkin's daughter was doing something special for Jamie, due to the time the two had spent together the previous summer, they had no idea that the expensive dresses they were trying on were soon to be their own property. When Rebecca told them that the alterations would be ready in an hour, Hermione's jaw hit the floor as she shook her head in shock, and Ginny started slapping Jamie on the arm and denying the shear possibility of Jamie buying the clothes as a gift to her, birthday or no birthday next week.

While the robes were being tailored, the three girls stopped by Flourish and Blotts to pick up a large selection of books including _Unfogging the Future_ and _Muggle Mindedness_ for the Divination and Muggle Studies classes that they were not even going to take; While they were going to pick up the book for the Care of Magical Creatures class as well, when they saw the cage full of the _Monster Book of Monsters_ books trying to eat each other, they decided to pass, settling on _Fauna Forays: Guide to Magizoology_ instead, much to the relief of the store clerk; They also picked up _Intermediate Transfiguration_ , _Standard Book of Spells: Grade 3_ , _Runic Rumba: Introduction to the Study of Ancient Runes_ and _Calculated/Chaos: Beginners Guide to Arithmacy_.

They split up for a few minutes after that so Hermione could check out the Magical Menagerie while Jamie and Ginny went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to see the latest in equipment upgrades available. The display for the new Firebolt racing broom was very impressive, but as Jamie hadn't lost a game she'd played in yet, she was perfectly happy sticking with the Nimbus 2000 Aunt Minnie had purchased for her almost two years ago. Ginny did pick up a set of Chaser's Gloves with some of the money she hadn't spent in Egypt and was asking Jamie for suggestions about what to get Hermione for her birthday in mid-September.

The next time they saw Hermione though, she was standing outside Magical Menagerie with a huge orange cat in her arms, that she called Crookshanks, and arguing with Ron. Evidently some guy named Black, broke out of prison and Mrs. Weasley wanted her only daughter at home where she could keep an eye on her little girl. So once they picked up the altered robes from Madam Malkin, Jamie and Hermione said goodbye to Ginny and promised to see her again on September 1st.

Over the next two days, before Hermione's parents stopped by to pick her up, the two thirteen year olds tore through all of their new books, tossed between being somewhat regretful for not taking the Magizoology class (but still thankful not to have to deal with that book), and being horrified at all the inaccurate or just plain wrong information in the Muggle Studies book. Jamie thought from the amount of notes Hermione had on that book alone, the older girl would likely be writing a new book on the subject in the near future.

* * *

Over the course of the next three weeks, the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, visited no less than five times, twice just to warn Jamie not to go looking for Black. The man was so paranoid that she would go seeking the escaped prisoner that he actually ordered Dora to guard Jamie until she got on the Train for Hogwarts. So while it was nice to have the girl who was quickly becoming like an older sister to her, Dora took her task seriously and was stifling Jamie a bit by the time they headed out for King's Cross and the Hogwarts Express. Having her as a protector, however, did let Jamie ask the Auror-in-Training about something that had been bugging her.

"Who _is_ Black?"

Caught off-guard, Dora asked, "What?"

Jamie rephrased the question, "The Minister is all scared that I'll go charging after that escaped prisoner, Black… Who is he?"

"Sirius Black… Our cousin," The pink haired girl shook her head sadly, "He was one of your pop's best friends in school, fought against You-Know- Who together, was even the Best Man at your parents' wedding… then suddenly WHAM! He flipped sides, murdered another of your pop's friends and twelve other people, muggles, with a single curse. Mom said Dumbledore talked about Sirius doing a lot worse things than what he was arrested for, but wouldn't give any details."

"He murdered thirteen people with one curse?" Jamie asked shocked.

Dora nodded, "Yeah, then just sat there laughing as the Aurors showed up to arrest him."

"Why?" Jamie said looking at her cousin curiously.

"Dunno," Dora said scratching her chin, "Might be in the trial transcript somewhere, but I doubt anyone's ever thought to ask that before."

"So Fudge is afraid a thirteen year old witch will go charging off to find her father's old friend or something? To what? Make him pay for killing another of his friends? Switching sides in a war?" Jamie shook her own head, "Something still doesn't add up, but I just don't know what yet."

"Just promise me you will not go looking for Sirius... if you do happen to find out anything, just send me a note with Hedwig and I'll look into it for you, okay?"

"I won't go looking for Sirius, Dora… I may be a brave little Gryffindor, but despite Snape's claims, I'm not stupid."

"I'm gonna hold you to that promise, Jamie. Now we'd best be off, don't want to be late for the train again this year."

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

No Durslys, means no Marge, & means no expulsion letter from the Ministry or Nightbus… and a new home with the Tonks'… also means no Burrow, though I did throw in the paranoid Fudge still… there's just so much different from cannon now that trying to follow the books is actually kind of hard.

Birth Dates and Locations…

September 19, 1979 – Hermione Granger, Exeter, Devon, England, UK  
(Being dentists, her parents would live in one of the larger towns, so I picked Exeter, the rest is from Potter Wiki)

July 31, 1980 – Jamie Potter, Godric's Hollow, Bristol, England, UK  
(I picked this location for being in the "West Country," not being Devon, and having a lot of Druid named places there)

August 11, 1981 – Ginny Weasley, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England, UK  
(straight from Potter Wiki)

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	17. Returning to Hogwarts

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 2**_ _ **–**_ _ **Returning to Hogwarts**_

Walking through the train looking for a compartment that was free, Jamie heard snippets of various conversations, from Lavender shouting at Parvati, "Who cares about Black? I want to know what happened to Professor Lockhart!" to Ron saying to Neville that his dad thought that Black wanted to take revenge on her for defeating You-Know-Who, and Malfoy bragging to anyone that would listen that Black wanted her dead, and if those two happened to agree on something, Jamie thought she ought to be a might bit more concerned; but not really knowing anything about the man, she found many of the stories floating about a little hard to credit.

Finally settling into the last compartment whose sole occupant, a shabbily dressed man in his late forties if Jamie had to guess, sat slumped against the window sound asleep. The Express was usually reserved for students and she'd never seen an adult other than the witch selling stuff from the food cart on board. Being as quiet as she could, Jamie unshrunk her Trunk, pulled out one of her outer robes and _Calculated/Chaos_ , before carefully putting the rest into the overhead. Hermione and Ginny joined her a few minutes later, but the three girls chose to read quietly so as to not disturb Mr. R. J. Lupin, as Hermione pointed to the name on the man's luggage.

It was a good day for reading quietly, with rain pouring down outside and the gentle sway of the train as it drove through the countryside. At nearly two in the afternoon when the witch with the food cart rapt quietly on the door asking, "Anything from the trolley dears?" They selected a few items but had already eaten the sandwiches they had brought with them for lunch. Before the witch turned to go, she addressed the man in the compartment, "Professor Lupin, would you like anything?"

"Professor?" Ginny echoed.

"I think he's asleep," Jamie told the witch, then picked up a few more items from the trolley, "perhaps he'd like a couple of Cauldron Cakes."

"Don't worry, dear," she said kindly, "If he's hungry when he wakes up, I'll be up with the driver."

Once the food trolley was gone, and seeing as they hadn't woken the sleeping man with their talking, Ginny quietly asked, "He's a professor? I wonder what he teaches."

"That's obvious," whispered Hermione, "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Well," Jamie started, "It's not certain he's the Defense instructor. We don't know if any other positions opened up since last semester."

"You're right." Hermione said, sounding a bit defeated for jumping to conclusions.

Then Ginny asked, "So what _did_ happen to Professor Lockhart?"

"Dunno. After he… well I'm not supposed to talk about that… but Aunt Minnie said he wasn't there when the Headmaster brought her trough the entrance and cleared the cave in. If I had to guess, he disapperated out of there."

"So the Chamber must not be inside the wards of Hogwarts," Hermione stated sounding a bit more confident once more.

Jamie nodded, "Dora says the Aurors have a bulletin out to find him, but no one's seen him since April… and I have to tell you… submitting that memory for his trial, whenever that happens to be, tickled something fierce."

"You submitted a memory for the trial?" Hermione asked, "Like a deposition?"

They were interrupted by Malfoy before Jamie could answer, but when he saw Professor Lupin sitting with them, he quickly pushed his two blockheaded bodyguards back out of the compartment and left without saying a word.

When the train slowed down nearly an hour earlier than they were expecting it to and lurched to a sudden stop, the girls wondered if the storm that had steadily worsened all day, had somehow damaged the tracks, but really weren't all that concerned as the conductor would contact someone to come correct the situation in short order or arrange for the students to still get to Hogwarts soon. The air temperature dropped precipitously, however causing the girls to huddle together shivering in the chilly room as they watched frost form across the windows, then a tall shadowy form swept the door of their compartment open with a putrid looking hand that looked like something had died and begun to rot underwater. All cheer seemed to be drained from the room as the thing appeared to stare at her from beneath its hood, and Jamie thought she'd never be happy again; then she started hearing a woman screaming and the world flashed white before fading to black.

* * *

When Jamie awoke, her head was on Hermione's lap as the bushy haired girl looked to the probable Defense instructor who was handing out chocolate saying, "Eat it. It will help."

"Ugh, what happened?" Jamie asked rubbing her forehead, "Who screamed?"

"No one screamed Jamie," Hermione replied looking worried.

"But I heard screaming…" she shook her head, "What… what was that thing?"

"A Dementor," the professor said, "One of the guards of Azkaban. I need to speak to the driver. Excuse me…"

"Is everyone okay?" Jamie asked finally sitting up.

Ginny looked as bad as Jamie felt, but nodded that she was okay as she nibbled on the chocolate Lupin had given her. Hermione smiled weakly and replied with a less than convincing sounding, "I'm fine,"

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station a half hour later, there was a great scramble to get off the train and out of the freezing rain falling on the small platform, and above it all a voice Jaime hadn't heard the previous year cut through the air, "Firs' years this way!"

Jamie stopped dead in her tracks and Hermione asked the obvious, "Hagrid's back?"

Hearing his name the giant of a man looked over and asked, "Alrigh' there, Harry?"

Jaime put as much cheer in her voice as she could manage to muster and shouted back that she was 'fine,' before rushing away to the waiting carriages with Hermione in tow and Ginny close behind. The carriage trundled towards a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars, and unfortunately, for the girls, guarded by a pair of the towering, hooded Dementors.

* * *

As Jaime stepped out of the carriage in front of the castle doors, a voice she hadn't missed hearing in months called to her. "You _fainted_ , Potter? Is Longbottom telling the truth? You actually _fainted_?" Malfoy demanded loudly, elbowing past Hermione to block Jamie's path, a gleeful look in his pale eyes.

"You're being rude cousin. It's cold and wet out here; if you really want to hold a pissing contest, I'm sure I'll win, but can we at least go inside first… and since Neville wasn't in my compartment on the train, how would he know what happened in there?"

Before he could respond, the Deputy Headmistress called out, "Potter! Granger! I need to see you."

The girls fought their way through the crowd in the Entrance Hall and slowly making its way into the Great Hall for the Welcome Feast. "There's no need to look so worried – I just want a word in my office," Professor McGonagall told them. "Move along there, Miss Weasley." Ginny looked disappointed to be dismissed like that, but had no choice in the matter as the Deputy Headmistress led Jaime and Hermione away.

Once they were in her office, Madam Pomfrey bustled in and started fussing over Jamie saying that Professor Lupin had sent an owl ahead. Jamie tried not to be too annoyed with this as the adults were only trying to do their jobs, but she rather resented being called 'delicate.' At least all present agreed that having Dementors around the school was a bad idea and certainly not conducive to a learning environment.

After Madam Pomfrey left to make sure everyone got chocolate added to their meals at the feast, Aunt Minnie sighed and turned to the two girls. "Sorry about that, girls, but Poppy can sometimes be a bit of a bother… best just to humor her at times like this."

"We understand, Professor," Hermione replied automatically, but Jamie nodded in agreement with the statement.

Thankful for their understanding, Professor McGonagall continued, "I needed to talk to you about your schedules for this year. Since we couldn't rearrange the class schedules enough to allow you to attend your classes normally, we're going to allow you to use a device called a 'Time Turner.' This will allow you to travel back in time a short period, but there are limitations, and you are to use this only for school purposes. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Professor," the girls chorused.

"You can go back up to seven days, up to seven times, before the core resonance of you being in so many places at once will kill you. The more instances of yourself there are, the harder it will be for you to use magic as well, so I'd suggest having no more than three of you at any given time. Do you understand?"

"Up to seven days… Three instances fine… more than seven deadly…more instances makes it harder to use magic." Jamie dutifully replied.

"Not everything is known about what this device can do, but very bad things have happened to mages that abuse time, so you must not interact with your other selves and it is best if no one notices you being in more than one place at a time."

"Wont that be difficult with us in two classes at the same time?" Hermione queried.

"Unavoidable most likely, but officially, you are both taking Ancient Runes by self-study with guidance from Professor Babbling."

* * *

A short time later, Jamie and Hermione slipped into the Great Hall to join the feast. Having already missed the Sorting to get the Time Turner from Professor McGonagall, they didn't feel like interrupting things by walking all the way to the other end of the Gryffindor table, where they usually sat, and simply joined Angelina, Katie, and Alicia who were seated near the door.

"And just what have you two been up to?" Alicia asked noticing the very happy smile on Hermione's face.

Jamie shrugged gathering a few things from the selection of foods available, "McG's office."

Katie replied startled, "She lets you call her that?"

"Not where she can hear." Hermione said shaking her head.

Checking her watch Angelina said, "Don't worry, I'll send the Twins to get you two something to eat."

Jamie was going to ask what she meant by that just as Dumbledore stood and, with a wave of his hand, all the food disappeared.

"Welcome!" Dumbledore called to get everyone's attention, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! As many of you will all be aware after the search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry business. They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not fooled by tricks or disguises – or even invisibility cloaks."

"Sounds like they aren't going to let me go to Hogsmeade with you this year," Jamie whispered to Hermione, "even though Cousin Andy signed the permission form they sent me with this years' supply and book list." Hermione just ducked her head and shrugged.

"It is not in their nature to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you," Dumbledore continued. "And now on to some more pleasant news! I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," he paused for some polite clapping, while Snape appeared to be glaring daggers at the new professor who kept nervously checking his watch, "and as to our second new appointment… well… I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures instructor, retired at the end of last term in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. I am delighted to say, however, that Rubeus Hagrid has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to resuming his games-keeping duties."

"Great, now he can bring in dangerous creatures as part of his 'classes' with little worry about the legality of it," Jamie muttered.

"Well I think that's everything of importance, let us all sing the school song; then it's off to bed so we can all get a fresh start tomorrow."

As usual the school song, which was sung to a different tune by each student, sounded horrible and only completed once the Twins had finished off what sounded like a rather ominous dirge.

* * *

Once they had followed Percy, who had shirked his own Head Boy duties to usurp the duties of the fifth year prefects once again, Hermione snagged Jamie's collar as she began to descend to the room the girls' had shared the year before, and asking, "Where are you going?"

"I thought I'd check the books my parents left me for some more information on Dementors," Jamie replied.

Hermione nodded, "That sounds like a good thing to do… but I meant, where are you going? The third year dorms are two flights up."

"Two up?"

"Yeah, you missed that first year being with the boys. For the girls, first years are at the top, then third years, and fifth, with seventh years here off the common room; Sixth years are one flight down, followed by fourth, with second years at the bottom."

"Interesting… though it is a bit fairer than the boys way… they stay in the same room every year. I'd hate to be stuck at the top floor all the time."

Angelina delivered the promised food about a half hour later as Jamie found a passage about Dementors in her books and read it aloud to Hermione, "Impervious to most magic, Blood Wards and the Patronus spell are the only known ways to defend against them. However, casting the Patronus is especially difficult around these creatures as their natural psychic aura suppresses all happiness in the area to bolster a sense of fear, and drive the victim's subconsciousness to dredge up painful memories, which the creatures then feed on. The Dementor's Kiss is said to be one of the vilest things one could ever witness, as the creature sucks the soul out of its victim, leaving a living husk behind. Although it is unconfirmed, it is commonly believed that this is one of the ways the creatures reproduce."

"Lovely creatures," Hermione said with a dead sounding voice.

Jamie couldn't help but agree, "I wonder how hard it is to learn the Patronus spell."

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

It's been mentioned that Jamie might have been too accepting of being a girl, and while she does have a few freak out moments, you have to remember that she grew up with the Dursleys and Rule 1… "Don't ask questions!" So she's learned to take things in stride for the most part. Once I get through Year 4, I might do a review of things and update some stuff in the older chapters… but don't really know just yet if I will.

Want to know something really bad? Wednesday, September 1st, 1993 was a full moon, with moonrise at about 7:35PM (the time was a bit difficult to look up… but it's out there to find if you look hard enough).

If you would like to see the calendar I use… put the periods back into the spaces in the URL below…

www timeanddate com/calendar/custom html?year=1993&country=9&lang=en&fdow=7&cdt=31&typ=0&display=3&df=1

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	18. Classes

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 3**_ _ **–**_ _ **Classes**_

The next morning at breakfast, Percy handed Jamie and Hermione their class schedules, and Jamie immediately noticed something wrong.

Monday – CoMC, Arithmancy (Ravenclaws), Lunch, Transfiguration, Potions, [DADA & Runes (combined)]

Tuesday – CoMC, Charms, Lunch, HoM, Potions (w/Slytherins), [Potions (w/Slytherins) & Arithmancy (Ravenclaws)]

Wednesday – DADA, Runes (combined), Lunch, Herbology (w/ Hufflepuffs), Charms x2

Thursday – [HoM & Arithmancy (Ravenclaws)], Transfiguration, Lunch, DADA x2, CoMC

Friday – Potions (w/Slytherins), [Charms & Runes (combined)], Lunch, Herbology (w/Hufflepuffs), Transfiguration x2

Ancient Studies are Monday and Thursday after supper

Astronomy midnight on Tuesday {Wednesday morning}

"Wait… we didn't sign up for Care of Magical Creatures."

"No, but it's on our schedules," Hermione replied.

Quickly slipping up to the Head Table to talk to Professor McGonagall, they were informed that Professor Dumbledore had added the class to their schedules to 'reduce the number of free periods' the girls had, which now numbered none. Hermione complained about not being told of the added class in advance so they could get the book and study for the class, while Jamie was all for just ignoring the addition and argued with the Deputy Headmistress about simply not going. In the end they ended up auditing the class, so while they had to attend, it wouldn't be for a grade so they didn't have to do the homework for it; which still did not please either of the girls. Resigned to life with the less than careful Hagrid as their teacher, the two headed off for their first class of the year.

History of Magic was its usual snooze fest, but Jamie and Hermione sat in the back discussing their new schedule.

"Right after we leave here we need to go to Arithmancy." Hermione stated.

"We could," Jamie suggested instead, "or we could go to Transfiguration, then Arithmancy, and knock out some of our homework before Lunch… or were you planning on just letting everything stack up to do in the evenings?"

Hermione's blush made it fairly certain that had been the older witch's plan, which would undoubtedly have led to issues with sleep later in the term, "Just remember Jamie, we have to give the time we borrow back."

"What do you have going on Sunday?"

* * *

Professor McGonagall chose that morning to give a lecture on Human Transfiguration, starting with showing off her feline Animagus form and then giving the class dire warnings against trying to learn how to do it on their own. The stern witch went on for some time about the limitations and duration of such transfigurations, as creatures with wills of their own will naturally want to return to their own form.

So after class, Jamie and Hermione discussed a topic that they had been somewhat avoiding for a while; "Was turning you into a boy something to protect you? It had to have been done by someone really powerful."

"Possibly…" Jamie nodded in agreement, "but then why did they turn right around and announce to everyone the next day that I'm the 'Boy-Who-Lived'?"

Hermione shrugged, "Maybe to give people a reason to hope?"

"Voldemort was gone; did they need a better reason?" The raven haired witch countered, "Who told everyone what happened that night anyway?"

"I think… I think it was the Headmaster…" Hermione said, tilting her head quizzically.

Jamie pinched the bridge of her nose, "Right… the most powerful guy around; and who still can't acknowledge that I'm a girl?"

"Perhaps that was part of the cost for such a long lasting transfiguration," the older witch asked, not expecting an answer.

Jamie shook her head, "You mean 'permanent' transfiguration right? It was only broken by the goblins… _by accident_ … once they'd upgraded their security during first year. I doubt we'll ever know."

"We could try asking Professor Dumbledore," the brunette stated hopefully.

"You can try," Jamie said in a tone that let the other witch know she thought it was a fool's errand, "if you think he'd give us a straight answer after hearing the crap he tried selling me about the 'power of love' protecting me first year."

The two girls joined the Ravenclaws for Arithmancy since there were too few Gryffindors to merit a class of their own. Professor Vector looked like she would be just as strict as Professor McGonagall, but once she began talking of the power of numbers, her love of Arithmancy poured out and really helped her students engage with the material in the books. The class started off with a short description of what the class would cover in the next three years ranging from numerically predicting events, to spell crafting design, but she first needed to know what they already knew of the subject and so, she gave them all a test. Jamie would have liked to get to know some of the Ravenclaws a bit better since they never share classes with the Gryffindors, but they immediately took off to the greenhouses for Herbology after class, while Hermione led her away to the library to work on their Transfiguration homework.

* * *

Their brief encounter on the train with the new instructor for DADA, had both girls hopeful to actually learn something useful this year as they walked into the first double long class of the year, however Professor Lupin was not there. Not knowing what else to do, the girls sat reading the textbook and waited patiently. A few minutes later Professor Lupin arrived and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk with a rather wane smile, "Good afternoon. Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

Slightly hesitant after Lockhart's Pixy Practical the year before, the students obeyed and then followed the teacher to the staffroom. Along the way, they encountered Peeves floating upside down and stuffing a keyhole with chewing gum. Professor Lupin smiled and told the poltergeist, "I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you Peeves. Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms."

Peeves blew a raspberry in reply then started singing, "Loony, loopy, Lupin," over and over again.

"This is a useful little spell," Professor Lupin said over his shoulder to the class, "please watch closely," raising his wand to shoulder height and pointing at peeves, he said, " _Waddiwasi_!" The wad of gum shot out of the keyhole and into Peeves' nose.

Cursing, the poltergeist zoomed away, while Dean said the spell was 'cool,' and Jamie whispered to Hermione, "He's definitely better than Lockhart."

When they entered the Staff Room, Snape beat a hasty retreat with a condescending tone about not wanting to witness what was about to happen. At the far end of the room, the professor stood next to an old wardrobe that was knocking about and rattling a bit. "Nothing to worry about," Professor Lupin said calmly, "there's a boggart in there." Several people recoiled at that, clearly thinking that boggarts were something to be nervous about. "Can anyone tell me what a boggart is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air and she said, "It's a shape shifter. It takes the form of whatever it thinks will frighten us most," when Professor Lupin called on her.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," the shabby looking wizard said, "but we have an advantage over it. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

"There are a lot of us," Jamie answered with a sigh, "it won't know what shape to take."

"Exactly," the professor stated. He then taught them the Riddikulus spell used to overcome the fear inducing imagery of the boggart. Once he was satisfied that they had the charm down, he had them gather in a circle to face the boggart. The boggart became many things that afternoon, from Snape in a dress with a stuffed vulture on his hat, to a snake headed jack-in-the-box, to a spider on roller-skates, and many more.

However, when it was Jamie's turn, Professor Lupin stepped in front of her and the boggart became a glowing silvery orb, to which he lazily cast the charm turning it into a popped balloon that zoomed back into the wardrobe to await the next class.

"I think that's all for today. Five points for each of you to Gryffindor," Lupin called.

"But I didn't do anything," Jamie and Hermione said together.

"You two answered my questions correctly at the start," Lupin replied lightly; the said, "Homework! Summarize the chapter in boggarts… to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

As the rest of the class departed, Professor Lupin called out, "Harry… a moment if you would."

Hermione waited while Jamie turned back to the teacher, "Please, sir… I prefer Jamie."

"Ah, yes. Your father would be honored." The professor looked a little said at that statement, "I bet you wonder shy I didn't let you face the boggart."

"The question did cross my mind, sir," Jamie nodded.

"I heard about what happened to your last two Defense professors, and while a boggart cannot actually use the powers of the creatures it appears to be, it can create a fair approximation of those powers. I was a little afraid of what would happen should it turn into a basilisk."

Jamie shook her head, but understood his reasoning, "It wouldn't have turned into a basilisk, sir. I'm not afraid of those."

"Oh?" He said curiously, "So what do you suppose it would have become then? What are you most afraid of?"

"I'm not sure, sir." Jamie shrugged, "The scariest creature I can think of would have to be a Dementor."

"A creature of fear itself, interesting... although I don't think I should have liked one of those appearing in the middle of class either."

"We have a few minutes before we have to head out to Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said, "Can we give the boggart a go now that everyone else has gone?"

Professor Lupin rubbed his chin in thought, "It seemed a little weak there at the end, perhaps in a few hours. Come see me after class and perhaps it will have recovered enough for you to face it."

* * *

Jamie was growing more annoyed by the minute as she and Hermione hiked across the castle's damp and muddy lawn to their first Care of Magical Creatures class; then she noticed her cousin, Malfoy, and his two bookends, Crabbe and Goyle, and started muttering imprecations about a meddling old man.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid bellowed loudly enough Jaime thought she could probably have heard him in her dorm room. "That's it – make sure yeh can see – now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books –"

"How?" asked her cousin in a cold voice.

"Eh?" Hagrid asked bewildered by the question.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy clarified.

"Hasn' – hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" the new 'teacher' looked around at his class crestfallen, then asked Jamie and Hermione, "Why don' yeh two have yer books?"

"Oh," Jamie said quickly, "We didn't sign up for this class. We're just observing."

"Then yeh can help me demonstrate." Hagrid said gruffly, "as fer the rest of yeh, yeh've got ter _stroke_ 'em long the spine."

Hagrid then walked off to collect the creatures they would be studying, leaving the students to their own devices for a few minutes.

"God, this place has gone to the dogs," Malfoy said loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him."

Jamie turned to Hermione and said just as loudly, "I can't believe I'm related to him… it's sad that a kid our age has to run to his daddy whenever something he doesn't like happens across his path."

About half the class laughed at him as Malfoy turned red, but before he could respond Hagrid returned leading a dozen of the strangest looking animals Jamie had ever seen in person.

"Beau'iful, aren' they?" Hagrid said happily. "Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

As he threatened, Hagrid called 'Harry' to come help show the class how to handle the half bird, half horse, hippogriffs. Jamie curtsied politely, maintaining eye contact as her _Fauna Forays_ book on Magizoology had said to do. Once Buckbeak, as Hagrid called the pretty silver grey creature before her, had bowed back, the 'teacher' called her to move closer and pat the creature's beak. No sooner had she done this than Hagrid grabbed her by the collar, choking her as he lifted her onto Buckbeak's feathered back and then slapping the hippogriff's romp to get it to take off.

Jamie loved flying; and if it hadn't been for the abruptness of the flight, or the fact that the way she was sitting and the wind blew her skirt up around her waist displaying her nickers to everyone below, she probably would have liked riding the hippogriff as well.

Even though Jamie hadn't signed up for, or wanted to attend, Care of Magical Creatures, there is one thing you can trust Malfoy to do, however, ruin a halfway decent class. Once Jamie was safely back on the ground, and her skirt back where it belonged, most of the students were eager to try getting to know the hippogriffs. Malfoy in his arrogance however, decided to test Hagrid's warning about not insulting them, which resulted in Buckbeak giving the ponce a rather nasty cut on his arm. As if to prove Malfoy both wrong about the hippogriffs being dangerous if you treat them nicely, and correct that Hagrid was not a good teacher, Hagrid picked Malfoy up and ran off with him to the Hospital Wing, leaving the rest of the class unattended with a dozen hippogriffs (one of whom had just attacked a kid).

As the class broke up, Jamie, Hermione, and surprisingly Blaise Zabini of Slytherin, corralled the hippogriffs over to the fence, tying them up for Hagrid to deal with when he returned.

* * *

When Jamie and Hermione went back to see Professor Lupin after class, he told them the Boggart was still recovering and that they would have to try another day.

After supper the two then went to the first session of Ancient Studies for the year, which was held, in what was normally thought of as an unused classroom, across the hall from History of Magic with Professor Liria Morgan. The six third year students (Jamie & Hermione of Gryffindor, Daphne Greengrass & Tracy Davis of Slytherin, Oliver Rivers of Ravenclaw, and Megan Jones of Hufflepuff), were a bit surprised that an extra-curricular class would be so involved, but were deeply engrossed in the subject at Professor Morgan began introducing them to the cultures of Africa and the Middle East and explaining how religions in the area are effecting magic in the region; she even assigned them homework.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Sorry for the delay, had to work out the schedules and such… there are some interesting schedules out there to find… here is what I'm going with for Year 3… due to lack of participation in some classes, Jamie and Hermione have been shuffled into the combined sections…

Monday – CoMC, Arithmancy (Ravenclaws), Lunch, Transfiguration, Potions, [DADA & Runes (Hufflepuffs and Slytherins)]

Tuesday – CoMC, Charms, Lunch, HoM, Potions (w/Slytherins), [Potions (w/Slytherins) & Arithmancy (Ravenclaws)]

Wednesday – DADA, Runes (Hufflepuffs and Slytherins), Lunch, Herbology (w/ Hufflepuffs), Charms x2

Thursday – [HoM & Arithmancy (Ravenclaws)], Transfiguration, Lunch, DADA x2, CoMC

Friday – Potions (w/Slytherins), [Charms & Runes (Hufflepuffs and Slytherins)], Lunch, Herbology (w/Hufflepuffs), Transfiguration x2

Ancient Studies are Monday and Thursday after supper

Astronomy midnight on Tuesday {Wednesday morning}

[ classes held at the same time ] - ( other house section ) - ( w/ combined house section ) - { clarification }

I've been curious about something for a while… Gryffindors have Potions with Slytherins and Herbology with Hufflepuffs… what class did they share with Ravenclaws? I'm guessing HoM since everyone slept through it anyway… in researching the student list on Potter Wiki, there are 12 Gryffindors, 12 Ravenclaws, 9 Hufflepuffs, and 10 Slytherins in the class starting in 1991.

For those curious about Professor Liria Morgan… I pulled her class from the "Hogwarts is Here" website.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	19. Black Days

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 4**_ _ **–**_ _ **Black Days**_

After Malfoy's 'injury,' he didn't show up again to Potions until nearly 8:30 on Friday, arm wrapped in bandages and swaggering. With only a half hour left of class, Snape ordered Ron to chop Malfoy's Daisy roots for the Shrinking Solution they were working on "because of his arm;" and then, when Ron mangled them, had him give Malfoy the roots he'd chopped for his own potion earlier. Snape then ordered Jamie to skin Malfoy's Shrivelfig, which she then intentionally peeled instead of skinned. When Malfoy complained again about the less than perfect work, Snape ordered her to swap with Malfoy, as he'd done with Ron, but she simply replied, "Can't, sir. I've already used mine," earning her a detention.

They were working with the _Glacius_ freezing spell in Charms, and Jamie was having quite a bit of fun creating little dancing ballerinas out of ice, when Dean hit her with the spell causing a rather chilly sensation under her skirt, she retaliated by giving him three foot long dreadlocks made of ice, and the boys took that to be the start of an icy battle. Professor Flitwick, evidently used to this particular spell causing such conflicts, simply sat on his desk and watched, chuckling at the inventiveness being displayed.

After Charms, Jamie talked Hermione into redoing the whole morning so they could go take warm showers, and get some of the Potions and Charms homework finished, before going to Ancient Runes at 9:15 that morning. Entering the classroom, Jamie walked over to the two girls that were already in the room.

"Calculated Chaos… so you're in Arithmancy as well, Miss Greengrass?"

" _Heiress_ ," the blonde girl said, "It's Heiress Greengrass, Heiress Potter."

"Okay, _Heiress_ Greengrass… I was going to ask if you wanted to get together to study… but if you want to be all stand offish…" Jamie said walking away.

"Heiress Potter," the other girl called out, and when Jamie looked back at her again, she continued, "Slytherins are the house of cunning and ambition; it would be foolish to deny the opportunity you suggest to advance."

"I am gratified that at least one member of my grandmother's house actually belongs in her house, Heiress Greengrass."

Jamie was surprised to find that the entire class was comprised of girls. In addition to Jamie and Hermione of Gryffindor, there was Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis of Slytherin, and Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, and Megan Jones of Hufflepuff. When Professor Babbling joked, at the start of class, that boys didn't seem to be able to handle her class this year; Megan joked that boys just might not be able to handle history in general, since there was only one boy in the Ancient Studies class. As Heiress Greengrass, Miss Davis and Megan were also in their Ancient Studies class, the girls quickly decided to alter the Sunday morning study group they had been talking about for Arithmancy to include Ancient Runes and Ancient Studies, and also pull Oliver Rivers, who was in Heiress Greengrass' Arithmancy class, into it.

* * *

As the term progressed, Care of Magical Creatures became as horrible as Jamie had initially imagined the class would be. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence after Buckbeak attacked Malfoy, while Malfoy did everything he could to play up the injury. Since the excitement of the first class, they had been studying Flubberworms, which had to be some of the most boring, supposedly magical, creatures in existence.

Defense Against the Dark Arts on the other hand, only got more and more fun with Professor Lupin moving from Bogarts, to Red Caps, then to Hinkypunks, and then Kappas. Each week he brought in some new creature for them to study as if, knowing that Hagrid was failing as a teacher, Professor Lupin wanted to not only cover the material for his own class but to also help the students with their other classes as well.

Potions class was abysmal. Snape continuously threatened to poison Neville's toad, Trevor, used any excuse, like breathing too loudly, to remove points from Gryffindor, and generally made life miserable for anyone not in Slytherin. Jamie had read the school charter, and as much as she would have liked to get the greasy git canned, everything within the school was up to the Headmaster, who for some unfathomable reason wanted the aggressively biased potions master terrifying the students at the school.

Outside of classes, Hermione was having trouble with Ron over an issue that had started with their pets at Magical Menagerie that summer. Hermione's cat Crookshanks was evidently a mouser, and Ron kept yelling at her to control her cat around his pet rat Scabbers, in much less friendly terms. The one time Jamie mentioned that rats were not included on the list of acceptable pets that had been on their school supply and book lists, he blew up on her as well for being a crazy snake girl who should be in Slytherin with all the other slimy snakes.

* * *

Quidditch practice on the 18th ran long, as Oliver was really pushing the team to win the cup this year. Jamie could understand his frustrations after having missed the last game in her first year and Snape somehow convincing Dumbledore to not reschedule the cancelled match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff last year, she was starting to get a little annoyed with the blatant bias towards Slytherin from the supposedly unbiased leadership of the school. So Jamie was grateful that she would get a nap soon.

The Time Turner worked by 'borrowing' time from the future, but that time needed to be returned by 'skipping ahead' at some point within seven days; so after eating a light lunch, Jamie and Hermione went up to their dorm room to reset their Time Turner, skipping ahead from about one thirty Saturday afternoon to nearly four in the morning on Sunday, as they had decided that was the best time to do so the week before.

Before going to bed however, Jamie handed Hermione a small present and quietly saying, "Happy Birthday."

"Jamie," Hermione whispered fiercely, "You got Ginny and me dresses for our birthdays, what's this?"

Open it and see…" the younger girl shrugged at her best friend's question, then muttered almost as an afterthought, "though it's not as pretty as you…"

Hermione wasn't quite sure what to make of the comment, but it quickly flew out of her mind as she saw the beautiful sapphire pendant in the box. "You shouldn't have," she breathed softly.

"I wanted to," Jamie answered. "Good night, Hermione."

"Good night," the older girl whispered softly as the other girl climbed into bed, "Jamie…"

* * *

On the 29th of October, Professor McGonagall called Jamie into her office to deliver some rather unwelcome news.

"Miss Potter," the Deputy Headmistress started, which was never good in Jamie's opinion, "I'm afraid we cannot allow you to join the rest of your friends in Hogsmeade tomorrow."

She'd been afraid of this happening because of Dumbledore's speech at the Welcome Feast, but she still had to ask, "Why?"

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors about Black floating through the castle recently?"

"Something about a Muggle thinking she'd seen him near here. I don't really credit them though."

"What do you mean?" the professor asked curiously.

"Well. Since Hogwarts is unplotable, how would the Daily Prophet know just where on the map the school is located to say that the town the Muggle woman was sighted Black in is near here."

Professor McGonagall looked a bit surprised by what Jamie said, "Be that as it may, the Headmaster believes it would be safer to keep you in the castle until Black has been dealt with."

"Seriously? And just what would Black happen to want with me?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," Professor McGonagall said with a scowl.

"Dora said he was one of my father's friends from school who switched sides."

The professor's scowl deepened, "She shouldn't have told you that."

"Do you really believe that Aunt Minnie?" Jamie asked with a sigh. "Hermione's been helping me go through the periodicals section in the library, there's a lot about people claiming to have been bewitched after Voldemort's Fall, but there was nothing written on Black in any of the Prophets that I've read yet… and Dora said Black's switching sides was sudden and rather out of character for him. Shouldn't that be a pretty good indication that he could have been bewitched into doing what he did? It seems there's a lot more to Black's story that someone doesn't want known."

"You leave Black to the Aurors, Jamie," Aunt Minnie said, "just stay inside the castle for now."

"I promised Dora I wouldn't go looking for Black, and I won't… but I'm beginning to wonder if your next step is to ship _me_ off to Azkaban as it's the one place you're pretty sure Black isn't."

* * *

Oliver decided to make Quidditch practice on the 30th a lot shorter than he usually did, ending around 8:30 in the morning instead of noon. Jamie thought this had more to do with his girlfriend, Katie Bell, wanting to go to Hogsmeade than simply being nice to the rest of the team, but getting out of the snow was a good benefit to the Seeker anyway. When the youngest member of the team headed towards the castle instead of the waiting carriages, the Twins intercepted her.

"And just where do you –"

"Think you're going?"

"Not to Hogsmeade," Jamie answered bitterly.

Curious, the boys asked together, "Why not?"

"Because some people," the girl said with a sigh, "think Black is after me… not that that makes any sense whatsoever…"

"You know the statue of Gunhilda of Gorsemoor?" One twin asked.

"The One-Eyed Witch on the third floor," the other clarified.

When Jamie nodded, the first said, "Tap her hump with your wand –"

"And say _Dissendium_ ," the second finished.

"You might want to take –"

"Your special cloak."

Jamie wasn't sure what she was getting into when she followed the Twin's directions, but after hiking through the tunnel that had opened under the statue for nearly an hour, she found herself in what appeared to be a storage room full of boxes and crates of various types of candy. Professor McGonagall was expecting her for lunch, so Jamie didn't stay long, but she did slip up into the store called Honeyduke's to purchase a few things before hiking back to the castle.

As usual, Hermione met Jamie in their dorm room after lunch to reset their time turned hours.

* * *

Their Sunday morning study group met on Halloween still, although most of what they were discussing was their trip into Hogsmeade the day before. Heiress Greengrass kept talking about Scrivenshaft's Quills and Parchment shop, while Hermione couldn't say enough about Spivey's Bookshop. As a result, Jamie felt like an outsider, and the dag dragged on for an impossibly long time for her.

First year, Jamie spent the Halloween Feast in the hallway outside the girls' lavatory talking to a distraught Hermione and wound up having to fight a mountain troll. Second year, she'd gone to Sir Nicholas' Deathday party instead of the Halloween Feast, then had most of the school turn on her for attacking Mr. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, and being the feared Heir of Slytherin… even though everyone hated the cat and Jamie was the Heir of Slytherin, almost no one in the school actually knew that she was the Heir and she certainly wasn't attacking anyone with the basilisk her great grandfather left in a secret chamber at the school. This year, Jamie vowed, things would be different… This year, no one would be able to accuse her of anything… because this year… she was going to skip the Feast and go to bed early.

That evening, hours after she'd gone to bed, she was rudely awakened by Professor McGonagall demanding, "Why aren't you with the rest of the students in the Great Hall? Where have you been, Miss Potter?"

"Here sleeping," the raven haired girl rolled over and replied muzzily, raising an arm to block out the light of Professor McGonagall's wand. "What's going on?"

"Sirius Black attacked the portrait of Elizabeth French that guards the door to the tower. How did you get in after the Feast?"

"Didn't go to the Feast," Jamie said sitting up, "Halloween is not among my favorite days of the year, ya know."

"Go join the others in the Great Hall… I'm sure your friends are worried about you," the Deputy Headmistress said stepping out of the door. A moment later, however, she stuck her head back into the room because Jamie hadn't immediately followed her. "What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed. I am _not_ going to the Great Hall in a tee-shirt and panties."

* * *

Sir Cadogan took over guarding the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, while Mr. Filch restored the Fat Lady's picture, much to the displeasure of most of the Gryffindors in residence. The mad knight would change the passwords at least once a day, and sometimes three or four times a day with no warning. By the end of the week, even Professor McGonagall looked ready to burn the crazy portrait. And as usual, most of the students blamed Jamie for Black breaking into the school.

On the 6th of November, Gryffindor headed out to play the first Quidditch match of the year, although their opponents would be Hufflepuff instead of Slytherin due to Malfoy's malfeasance about his 'injury.' The weather was dreadful, an icy downpour with strong and gusting winds. Jamie rather doubted that the Chasers would be able to make goals with the Quaffle while fighting a headwind like that, so the game would really depend on her finding the Snitch as quickly as possible.

Just as they were about to head out to start the match, Hermione dashed into the locker room, drenched from the rain, and ran straight to Jamie wand pointed threateningly, " _Impervious_!"

"What did you just do?" Jamie asked.

Hermione smiled, "They should repel water now."

"I could kiss you!" Oliver cried.

Katie grabbed her boyfriend, "You'd better not."

"But I will," George said quickly kissing Hermione, much to the bookworm's embarrassment; at least Jamie was pretty sure it was George, since Angelina was holding onto her boyfriend, Fred.

Out on the pitch, trying to play in the lousy weather, Jamie still had a lot of problems trying to look for the Snitch, but she was very grateful to Hermione for the charm on her glasses. After nearly an hour being battered by the wind and icy water, she finally spotted it, a tiny glint of gold flying high above the Hufflepuff goals, and she shot off to catch it; Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker close on her heels. She wasn't quite sure what happened after that, though she thought she hear a woman pleading with someone then a scream and bone chilling laughter.

* * *

When she came to in the Hospital Wing, Hermione was holding her hand, while the team, without Oliver, stood around her, and Ginny was off to the side holding an odd shaped bundle in her arms, all of them still drenched from the rain outside.

"What happened?" the girl in the bed asked, starting to wonder about how often she'd had to ask that question lately.

"Dementors swarmed the pitch… you fell," Angelina said sadly.

"Diggory said he didn't see…" the twin holding Angelina's hand said.

"Wanted to call for a rematch…" the other twin continued.

"So we lost," Jamie said with a sigh. "Where's Oli? What are you holding Ginny?"

"Trying to drown himself in the showers I suspect," Katie said sadly.

Ginny sat the bundle on the bed, "When you fell… your broom… flew into the Whomping Willow…" she said with a hitch in her voice like she was trying to fight bursting into tears.

"What's a Whomping Willow?"

"You know that tree over on the West lawn that everyone is warned to stay away from?"

Jamie nodded slowly, wondering where Ginny was going with that question.

"It's because the tree likes to hit anything that touches it."

"Why would they…" Jamie started then shook her head, "know what? Never mind. We've Dementors on the grounds, a basilisk in a bathroom, three professors that hate their students… if you count Quirrell and Lockhart along with Snape… and an escaped prisoner running around near here… why not add a tree that attacks anything that touches it into the mix? If this is the best, how much worse can the other schools be?"

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

Leicontis – If you are referring to the Definitions… yes I am… but the reason those are there is that more than half of them are actually in the books, but not explained… take Dumbledore for example – Albus Dumbledore – Order of Merlin 1st class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards. The terms Sorcerer, Warlock, and Mugwump are never explained… though Mugwump can be inferred to be something like a chairman since it is applied to his position within the Wizengamot.

Sakura Lisel – James and Lily went under the Fidelis charm while Lily was still pregnant… so only a few people knew Jamie was born a girl. When Snape told Voldemort the first part of the Prophecy, he only had the first two lines, which would fit either the child of James and Lily Potter or the child of Frank and Alice Longbottom. For my story, I'm going with the Prophecy wasn't given in English and Dumbledore translated it to mean a 'male' child for his own reasons… and since Dumbledore can do no wrong…

* * *

Timetable for classes:

6:00-7:15 Breakfast

7:30-9:00 First Period

9:15-10:45 Second Period

11:00-12:00 Lunch

12:00-1:30 Third Period

1:45-3:15 Fourth Period

3:30-5:00 Fifth Period

6:00-7:30 Supper

10:00-5:45 Curfew

11:00-1:00 Astronomy

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	20. The Visit

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 5**_ _ **–**_ _ **The Visit**_

"Hermione… is something wrong?" the young messy, black haired girl asked the bushy, brunette girl across the library table from her quietly.

"What do you mean?" the other girl responded glancing up from her textbook.

Tugging on her ear, the first said, "It's just… this last week I've noticed… but it's been going on for a while…"

Hermione huffed, "Jamie, if you don't actually say anything, how can I answer your questions?"

Jamie shook her head and looked away, "We're always together because of our class schedule, but it feels like you don't want to be around me."

"What?" Hermione asked, shocked by Jamie's comment.

"I don't know how to explain it… like this morning… you rushed out of the shower as soon as I got there."

A deep blush blossomed on Hermione's cheeks, "I… I, um… I was just in a hurry."

Disappointed by Hermione's evasiveness, Jamie just muttered, "fine."

"Jamie I…" the brown haired girl started, but then changed whatever she was going to say to, "What are you doing for the holidays?"

"I'm not sure. Andy has something set up for a visit to Beauxbatons, but I was kind of hoping she could get a visit to Antipodean in Australia set up."

Hermione's brown eyes sought out Jamie's bright green ones, "What? But… what about Hogwarts?"

"What _about_ Hogwarts?" Jamie answered sarcastically. "There's really only one thing keeping me here, Hermione… and it feels like I'm losing that a little more each day." Frustrated with her friend's answers, Jamie suddenly snapped her book shut and dropped it back in her bag, and said over her shoulder as she left Hermione sitting at the table bewildered, "I'm going for a walk."

In the week since her broom was destroyed by the Whomping Willow, Jamie had spent quite a few nights researching the various schools of magic around the world, with very little help from Hermione. Mahoutokoro sounded interesting to her, but Jamie couldn't stand that much pink, and doubted she could follow the rules of their strict Honor Code without breaking it occasionally. Castelobruxo, Koldovstoretz, and Uagadou all had their good and bad points, but she wasn't sure about the language and culture differences she would have to cope with. Ilvermorny and the Salem Witches Academy in North America at least spoke English, but she couldn't find much information on SWA and what she did find on Ilvermorny wasn't very appealing to her. Beauxbatons Academy in France was the closest school, which made things easier for Andy to set up a school visit in contemplation of a transfer, but the Antipodean School of Magic in Australia was just about as far away from Hogwarts as you can get with the added bonus of still being in an English speaking country, which had great appeal to Jamie.

Jamie hadn't really been paying any attention to where she was going as she wondered the halls, but was startled to awareness when a voice called out, "Miss Potter, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?" She turned to see the raggedly dressed defense professor standing in the doorway of his open classroom.

"Professor?"

"Yes… it seems Dementors are rather drawn to you, Miss Potter, and I was wondering if you might be interested in attempting to learn how to block them."

"You mean, the Patronus Charm?" Jamie asked curiously.

Surprised the man asked, "You know of it?"

"I've been reading a bit," Jamie said a little sadly, omitting that she'd been reading with Hermione, "but my books don't describe how to do the charm."

"It's a very advanced skill, well beyond NEWT level. Most wizards and witches have a very difficult time with the spell, if they can do it at all."

"I'll do my best, sir. I'd love to learn the charm."

"Then come on in and we'll get started."

"I have to meet Hermione at two sir, but I'm free until then."

"Something important?" he asked, puzzled by the odd mix of determination and sorrow layered in her voice.

"I'm not allowed to say Professor," Jamie said somewhat reluctantly, "but you could ask Professor McGonagall about it if you need to know."

The next three hours passed swiftly and very frustratingly for Jamie as she could do the wand movements and incantation, Expecto Patronum, properly, but had yet to get the spell to work right; the most she could do was light up the tip of her wand but it wasn't even as bright as a dim Lumos yet. All of her happiest memories seemed to be tainted by darkness: finding out magic is real, only to have Hagrid explain next to nothing to her and then abandon her in the middle of London; coming to Hogwarts, only to have nothing but trouble in the castle; flying for the first time, only to have Malfoy ruin it by taking Neville's Rememberall; the fun she has playing Quidditch, only to end up in the Hospital Wing nearly after ever game. Moving in with Cousin Andromeda was the only thing that seemed to work even a little bit, but Professor Lupin scoffed and said that 'happy memory' wasn't nearly strong enough.

When Jamie finally went to leave to meet Hermione, she and Professor Lupin decided to set up a tentative schedule to meet on Saturdays to work on the spell, but he was nearly as flabbergasted as Hermione when Jamie mentioned that she was looking at transferring to a different school.

* * *

Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match at the end of November, so Gryffindor wasn't out of the running for the Cup yet this year, and Oliver became manic once more over the attempt to capture the elusive prize. Jamie, who had been practicing on an old Shooting Star from the school's broom closet, finally decided it was time to start looking into replacing her destroyed Nimbus 2000 and borrowed a copy of _Which Broomstick_ from her over-excited team captain. Nearly everyone had an opinion on which broom she should get, the most vocal of them being Ron Weasley, who she finally got to shut up by saying that if he wanted her to have a Nimbus 2001 so bad, he could buy it for her.

* * *

On December 4th was the last Hogsmeade Weekend of the year, and when Andy showed up at breakfast to take Jamie on a school visit to Beauxbatons, nearly everyone was shocked that the young 'savior of the wizarding world' was contemplating leaving Hogwarts. Using Slide-Along Apparition from the main gate, Andy took Jamie home first to change out of her school uniform and into a plain red dress with a white half coat, belt and matching shoes. With her hair up in a high ponytail so that it barely brushed her collar, Jamie looked closer to sixteen than her actual thirteen years of age. The two then headed to the International Transportation Office for a portkey to Paris where they would then take another portkey on to Beauxbatons Academy.

The Palace of Beauxbatons was a beautiful chateau surrounded by majestic gardens and fountains tucked away amid towering mountains. Many of the students in their fine silk robes, pale blue with silver accents for the girls and dark blue with gold for the boys, stopped and stared at the visitors as their deputy headmaster led Jamie and Andy around the campus. Jamie was surprised that the students were strictly segregated between boys and girls and the two factions had a very fierce competition which the girls had won for the last three years, and were so snooty about it that many of them reminded Jamie of her Aunt Petunia. Carefully not letting anyone know how she felt about the school, Jamie smiled politely and made small talk with the various people she was introduced to, but was silently begging Andromeda to depart; Beauxbatons was definitely not the school for her.

Midafternoon found Andy and Jamie in a booth at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, talking quietly about their impressions of Beauxbatons. While both agreed that the facility was very lovely, Andromeda wasn't pleased with some of the employment restrictions their apprenticeship system, which does not include anything like NEWTs, and Diplôme d'Affaires et Magie Français would place on Jamie after graduation, being mostly restricted to France and a few countries in Africa, and Jamie was most displeased by the students.

Their quiet discussion however was interrupted by the arrival of some rather loud individuals at the bar.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta, the barkeep, asked.

A man in pinstriped robes holding a lime green bowler hat and a very red drink looked up at her, "What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?"

"I did hear a rumor."

"Did you tell the whole pug, Hagrid?" Professor McGonagall asked exasperatedly to the giant of a man sitting beside her.

"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" Madam Rosmerta asked before Hagrid could say anything.

"I'm sure of it," the slightly pudgy man said worrying his bowler hat.

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," Professor McGonagall said thoughtfully. "Of all the people, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought to go over to the Dark."

"It's hard to think of that boy killing all those people," Madam Rosmerta said quietly.

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," Fudge said gruffly.

Curious, the barkeep asked, "The worst?"

"Do you remember who his best friend at Hogwarts was?" murmured Professor Flitwick.

"Naturally," Rosmerta replied with a laugh, "Never saw one without the other, Sirius Black and James Potter."

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers," Professor Flitwick said, "Inseparable!"

Fudge looked down at his drink, "Nothing changed when they left school; best man at James and Lily's wedding, they even named him little Harry's godfather. Harry has no idea. Can you imagine how the idea would torment him?"

"First off, Minister, I'm a girl named Jamie… or Harriett if you must." Jamie said standing directly behind the Minister of Magic. "And while I didn't know my cousin was also my godfather, it hardly matters."

All five of the adults spun to stare at Jamie.

"Thought you wer in France?" Hagrid said, looking down at the third year Gryffindor.

Waving the question off, Jamie said, "Beauxbatons didn't really agree with me." She then turned to the man with the lime green hat, "Since you're here Minister, there's something I've been looking to read and I was wondering if you could help me?"

Startled by the question from the girl next to him, he said dumbly, "What?"

"I've been looking through the Archives at school, and while I've found numerous trial transcripts from shortly after my parents' deaths, I couldn't find one for Sirius Black. Would you happen to know where I could get a copy?"

"I arrested him myself," Fudge said sadly, "He was just sitting there laughing in the street after obliterating Pettigrew and those twelve muggles; a heap of bloodstained robes and a finger was all that was left of the poor boy."

"Bloodstained robes and a finger?" Jamie asked curiously, "what kind of spell would leave behind the robes and a finger but not more? Or less…" Jamie asked.

"I… don't know," Professor Flitwick said while Professor McGonagall just shook her head.

"Didn't you ask him at his trial Minister?" Jamie pressed.

"Old Barty Crouch was in charge back then, sent Black off to Azkaban straightaway. He might know."

"Why are you so interested in Black, Miss Potter?" Madam Rosmerta asked, "Not going to go looking for him your self are you?"

"Oh no, ma'am. I promised my cousin I wouldn't," Jamie answered swiftly, "but I was also reading several cases where people were claiming to be under an Imperious curse, and the way everyone talks about Black suddenly changing sides, I wanted to know if that could be the case with him as well."

"I'm afraid not," Fudge said. "Black was your parents' Secret Keeper."

"Secret Keeper?" Jamie asked tilting her head to the side, "What's that?"

"I think it's time you went back up to the school, Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall stated.

"You'll have to tell her eventually, Professor," Andromeda said softly, entering the conversation for the first time.

"The Fidelius Charm," Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"Filius!" Professor McGonagall cried sternly.

The part goblin shrugged, but continued, "It's an immensely complex spell, were a secret is bound into a single living being. A Secret Keeper must willingly give up the secret they hold, it can't be forced. Your parents went under the spell shortly before you were born."

"And you're certain Black was my parents' Secret Keeper?"

"Dumbledore said James insisted on Black," Fudge stated.

Jamie narrowed her eyes at the mention of the Headmaster, "Is that why no one knew I was a girl either?"

"Only Black, Dumbledore an' Peter knew wer yeh was," Hagrid said with tears in his eyes, then roared, "AND I COMFORTED THAT MURDERIN' TRAITOR!"

"Please Hagrid," Professor McGonagall chided softly, "keep your voice down."

"I'd really like to read that trial transcript, Minister," Andromeda said quietly, then put a hand on Jamie's shoulder, "but I think it's time I took this one back up to the school. Good day."

On the way back up to the school, Jamie asked her magical guardian about visiting Antipodean and Salem over the Winter Break, but Andy replied that neither school would accept a mid-year transfer, but did have a trip to the Salem Witches Academy set up for the Easter Break. While Jamie was disappointed a bit at that news, she was very pleased to find out Andromeda was planning to take her to the Potter Estates and Slytherin Tower over the Holidays instead and was wondering if Hermione would like to join them. The older third-year girl had been less skittish since Jamie asked about what was wrong a few weeks prior, but still wasn't sure where she stood in regards to her friendship with the brunette.

Either way, the two girls had two more weeks until the end of fall term, and they still hadn't figured out when they were going to do their last reset before catching the train on the 18th. If they waited all week as they had been doing, and rushed up to their dorm after Transfiguration on Friday, they would miss both supper that night and breakfast on Saturday, which would leave both girls extremely hungry on the ride down to London, but the alternative was to strip three and a half hours of study time out each night and Hermione was being very stubborn about not losing any of her time for revision.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

If you are wondering why Jamie moving in with Andy isn't a strong enough happy thought, you have to think of the reasons behind the emotions as well. It wasn't just the thought of moving in with Sirius for Harry, but also getting away from the Dursleys, finding out more about his parents, and a lot of other things… that's not the case for Jamie.

If Snape relayed the Prophecy to Voldemort before Harry was born… why did Voldemort wait for over a year before trying to kill the kid that was destined to defeat him?

The book says Wormtail betrayed the Potters barely a week after the Fidelius Charm was set up, why did Dumbledore not act for over a year to protect them?

James was an Auror from a Most Ancient and Noble House… he was rich… so he could afford to hide under the Fidelius Charm the whole time, but he was also a Gryffindor so likely still went out to fight alongside Sirius and the other members of the Order of the Phoenix. The location the Potters were staying at in Godric's Hollow was the secret being kept… but was it the only secret? With James out fighting, it would make since, once he actually acted, for Dumbledore to insure that Harry was protected specifically, as Neville appeared to be when the Death Eaters tortured the Longbottoms into insanity but didn't even notice that Neville was there.

Just some thoughts for you all to ponder with me…

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	21. Winter Wonderings

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 6**_ _ **–**_ _ **Winter Wonderings**_

In a small locked tower, never visited by any student at Hogwarts, Albus sat staring at a name in a peeling, ancient, black, dragon-hide bound book with a small silver inkpot, from which a long, faded quill protrudes, standing beside it; neither of which has been touched by human hands since the four founders placed it there upon completion of the castle. These are the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance and they constitute the only process by which students are selected for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and never before has a name, once written magically in the book, ever been erased; but the name Albus was staring at, Harriett Lillian Potter, was so faded that he could nearly not make it out.

"Perhaps it is better for her this way, no girl could ever do what needs to be done." the Headmaster sighed, turning away from the book, "NO! For the Greater Good that brat MUST stay." Grabbing an ever-full quill from his pocket, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore did what no one since the Founders of Hogwarts had done, he wrote in the book.

* * *

Jamie finally convinced Hermione to sacrifice one night of revision and do a reset of the Time Turner on Monday night so they would have time to eat breakfast on Saturday before catching the train back to London. Jamie slept away most of the trip, but even though their relationship was still somewhat strained and Hermione refused to talk about why. The older girl did not accept Jamie's invitation to explore Slytherin Tower together on the 23rd; surprisingly however, two of the girls from their study group, who they were sharing the compartment with, practically begged to join in on Jamie's exploration. Before they would meet up on Wednesday evening however, so Tuesday found Jamie in Diagon Alley to purchase some rather important Christmas presents for her friends.

After checking in with Master Crushbone to make sure what she had planned would be acceptable within the limits of her current account restrictions, Jamie pulled over a hundred thousand Galleons from her vault in Gringott's to splurge a bit on Christmas gifts.

Jamie's first stop was Quality Quidditch Supplies to pick up a new broom for herself. When Jamie asked about the price of the Firebolt, she was a bit shocked. Yes, she could afford it, but the goblin made broom was very pricy and Jamie decided to get something a bit more cost efficient. Like Ron had, the manager kept trying to push her into getting a Nimbus 2001 to replace her destroyed Nimbus 2000, but Jamie didn't want to use the same broom Malfoy bought his way onto the Slytherin team with. So in the end she went with the Quicksilver, a broom slightly slower than the Nimbus 2001, but capable of much greater maneuverability; she also shocked the manager by ordering three Cleansweep 14s, which had nearly identical statistics to the Nimbus 2000, for Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, two Moontrimmer Excaliburs for the Weasley Twins, the best broom available for Beaters and made by the same company that made her new Quicksilver, a Tinderblast 92 from the company that produces the Firebolt for Oliver, which has a low top speed but incredible acceleration, perfect for someone that doesn't need to go far but get there very fast, and a Silver Arrow 4 for Ginny so she wouldn't have to put up with using the lower quality brooms her brothers currently had. The best part for Jamie though, was the fact that all of those brooms combined cost only slightly more than half the price of a Firebolt.

The next stop on her shopping expedition was Wellstone's Magical Gemstones and Jewelry Shoppe to order a few items made for her family. For Ted Tonks she ordered a heavy gold ring, for Andy a pretty gold broach, and for Dora a small gold pendent, all with the Potter Family Crest on them; and for Aunt Minnie, she picked up a thin silver bracelet that had cats magically playing around on it to go with the 1994 Kitten calendar she was planning to pick up later that day. Although they were not on the best of terms at the moment, Jamie was hoping Hermione would get over whatever was troubling her soon, and picked up a pair of sapphire earrings for the bookworm, that matched the pendent Jamie had given her the year before.

* * *

The next morning Andy answered the door to find Lord Peneus and Lady Creusa Greengrass with their two daughters, Daphne and Astoria, dressed in very fine and well-coordinated muggle outfits, even if they were from nearly a century ago. Before her parents departed with her younger sister, Daphne reluctantly agreed to abide by the house rule of "no titles among friends" while staying with the Tonkses.

Later that afternoon Jamie asked, "Hey Daphne?"

"What Potter?" the blonde returned annoyed with the lack of title.

"Do you know when Tracey will be here?"

"Miss Davis is not coming. She is with her father and had other plans for tomorrow."

"It's only for while we're with my guardians. It won't kill you to be informal for a couple days."

Daphne didn't respond to that statement.

"Did you realize that our last names could be considered titles?"

"Tsk… fine… Jamie."

"Perhaps it's better that Tracey isn't here," Jamie said with a sigh, "there are some things I'd like to know that you may be able to help me with but I wouldn't want to annoy her with."

"Like what?"

"What does it mean to be the Heiress of an Ancient and Most Noble House?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"I was raised poorly as a boy by muggles that hated anything that even remotely had a connection to magic; though Cousin Andy is trying to help, she was never the Heiress to the House of Black."

That evening was spent in very intense social studies on the rules, rights, and responsibilities of being an heiress with both Andy and Ted popping into Jamie's room on occasion to ask questions of the Greengrass Heiress. There were a great many things discussed, including the claiming of the Headship of the family, which can be done by the primary heir or heiress at the age of fourteen if no head is currently ruling and the family charter allows; the assumption of the family seat in the Wizengamot at the age of fifteen, for training, even though you must be sixteen before you can cast a vote; Marriage Contracts, and so much more.

* * *

The next morning found Jamie, Daphne and Dora standing at what appeared to be the ruins of an old tower near the south end of Oxwich Bay in Wales.

"I still find it hard to believe you knew nothing of the magical world growing up," the blonde said shaking her head.

"I'd say you would understand if you ever met my mother's sister and her family, but you'll be better off never encountering them," the raven haired girl replied ruefully.

"I take it there's more here than a pile of rubble," the pink haired Auror trainee said questioningly.

Nodding, Jamie pulled out the instructions Master Crushbone had sent her, then called out to the ruined tower, "The Heir of Slytherin summons Wirpy."

With a soft pop, two house elves appeared before the three girls, and while the younger elf bounced up and down with joy and cried, "Harry Potter miss has come to visit Dobby!" The ancient looking one scowled and pointed a long, slender sword at Jamie's throat saying, "Who calls Wirpy?"

Dobby looked furious with the other house elf, but nothing he was doing appeared to effect the ancient one, and with the tip of the sword just barely touching her skin, Jamie couldn't make out the glowing runes on the blade and felt compelled to answer the question, in a way that surprised her, "I am Lady Harriett Lillian Potter, also known as Jamie Potter, daughter of Lord James Charlus Potter and Lady Lily Rose Potter nee Evans, Heiress Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, Daughter of the Great, Noble, and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor, Heiress Apparent of the House of Gaunt, Heiress Apparent, Avenger of the Most Ancient House of Monroe, Heiress Designate of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, Heiress Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell, Heiress Apparent, Avenger of the Great, Noble, and Most Ancient House of Hufflepuff, and Heiress Apparent of the Great, Noble, and Most Ancient House of Slytherin."

Wirpy looked surprised, then lowered the blade and said, "Fragarach has accepted your answer. How may Wirpy be of service?"

"That's the Answerer… the Sword of Truth?" Daphne burst out with a shocked look on her face.

Wirpy turned to the blonde and stated, "The sword of Lord Lugh has many names miss, but those are two of them."

"So what… it's like Veritaserum in sword form?" Dora asked, "That could come in handy."

"What the hell was with all of those houses?" Daphne yelled, "Heiress of Slytherin and Hufflepuff, and daughter of Gryffindor?"

Jamie shrugged, a bit confused herself.

"Wirpy knows the potion you speaks of miss," the old elf said turning to the pink haired Auror trainee, "Fragarach is stronger. Fragarach pulls truths with old magics, even if speaker knows not."

"Wirpy," Jamie said getting the elf's attention once more, "We would like to explore the tower."

"Yes Mistress," Wirpy said, and with a snap of his aged fingers the ruined tower they were standing next to transformed into an imposing five story tall structure, with crenellations on the ramparts surrounding the top, and a twenty foot outer wall.

Stepping through the heavy gates and through the large courtyard lined with stables on one side and what appeared to be salles d'armes for training in both martial and magical battle techniques on the other, Wirpy led the trio of girls on a Grand Tour of the six story tower, stopping occasionally when their curiosity about some of the items they were seeing got the better of them. In the Armory, Wirpy placed Fragarach on a stand below a spear with the legend Ascalon on it, and above what at first glance looked like two daggers, Carnwennan and Lævateinn, the former appeared to have shadows moving across the blade continuously above its plain white hilt, while the later turned out to be a stiff birch wand with a silver blade attached. The next stand over had the name Bercilak imprinted on above a set of faded green, lacquered armor and a set of boots that said 7L 'Swift-steppers' on them.

Dora muttered to herself as Wirpy led them out of the Armory, "whoever set up that stand was either an Auror or an assassin."

"Why do you say that?" Daphne asked.

Dora shook her head and started holding up fingers as she listed off the items on the first two stands, "Armor that protects the wearer from physical wounds, boots that cover miles per step, a spear that pierces through any defense, a sword that forces the truth out of people, a dagger that cloaks the wielder in shadows, and a very powerful wand… not to mention all the other things in there that we didn't even look at."

"That's all staying right where it is for now," Jamie said firmly. "I think you're probably right about the previous owner though Dora, or possibly a spy." Jamie mused, then turned to Wirpy, "Wirpy, before we arrived today, when was the tower last occupied by a mage?"

"You ask about Master Corvinus, Mistress? Wirpy thinks it was 1783 when Wirpy sees him last."

"Corvinus… Gaunt?" Jamie asked, "The one who helped hide the Chamber of Secrets from being found?"

"Aye, Mistress. Master Corvinus did not approve of his grandson's ways and chose not to tells him about some family secrets."

"Such as the Chamber of Secrets and this tower," Jamie said then turned to the blonde girl who had fallen behind, "Something wrong Daphne?"

"1783… but that means you're over two hundred years old Wirpy, no house elf lives that long!"

"House elves can Miss Daffy," Dobby said, "but bad masters makes it difficult."

"Magic preserves," Wirpy said nodding in agreement with Dobby.

Browsing through the library, Jamie was sorely tempted to take the _Diary of Lady Scáthach the Warrior Maiden_ , while Daphne wanted to borrow one of the _Galdrabók Grimoires_ collecting dust on a back table, but both left their finds in the large chamber when Dora pointed out how fragile the old books appeared to be. Jamie promised herself to look into preserving magics and possibly getting some copies made of these rare books.

It was nearly suppertime when the three girls left the tower to return to Vicarage Crescent, with Jamie promising Wirpy to find a younger house elf to assist him in his duties, since Dobby didn't wish to be bound to the House of Slytherin in order to do so.

* * *

After Daphne left the next morning, Jamie sat in her room contemplating the last two days she'd spent with the blonde Slytherin and decided to try bringing the other girl into a closer friendship when the opportunity arose.

Dressing quickly and warmly when Dora called up the stairs to remind her of the planned trip to collect the presents from the merchants of Diagon Alley, the young Gryffindor girl practically skipped down the stairs in happiness. With all the brooms being delivered by owl post, direct from the manufacturer, Jamie only really needed to go to Wellstone's Magical Gemstones and Jewelry Shoppe to collect the custom ordered pieces, but while she was there she also picked out a silver snake bracelet with pale green Peridot eyes for Daphne.

Braving the holiday crazed multitudes that filled the Alley, Jamie also stopped into the Magical Menagerie to inquire about acquiring a new house elf and was quickly directed to Rodelaneo Martinez in the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures office. Which led to the two girls stopping by the fourth floor offices in the Ministry to purchase the contracts for Hywil and Mizyl, which Jamie immediately send on to Wirpy for training. She then sent a note to Master Crushbone requesting a meeting for a more in depth inheritance test and a list of the houses she'd named to Wirpy the day before.

* * *

While it wasn't the first time she'd ever received presents for Christmas, it was the first time she'd ever been part of a family that wanted her to be part of the celebration of the holiday. After breakfast, Ted, Andy, and Dora pulled Jamie into the family room at the back of the house where the Christmas tree and presents had been arranged. Being the youngest present, Jamie was tasked with playing Santa and handing out the gifts.

Cousin Dora got Jamie a small Wizarding Wireless set, Ginny sent a handmade scarf with poems embroidered on it, and the Twins sent a small, green snake in a large terrarium. She also got a primer on the Wizengamot from Ted, a book on the Noble and Most Ancient Houses from Andy, a book on the lore and legends of Scotland from Aunt Minnie, and three romance novels from Hermione that Dora immediately absconded with.

All three appreciated their gifts from the young girl, but Andy was somewhat concerned with the appearance of placing them under the protection of the House of Potter that the items signified. Jamie however wasn't really concerned with that though, saying that all three would fall under her House's protection regardless of having the family crest showing due to them taking her in as a ward.

She also received a note back from Master Crushbone saying the deep inheritance test could be done, but it would cost one thousand Galleons and would take just over a week to set up; to which she replied and requested it to be done on the third of January, the day before she would catch the train back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Even though it was the weekend, Jamie couldn't head off to Potter Manor until Dora's next day off on Wednesday the 29th. The three days between, however, were not wasted as Jamie spent most of her time studying the books she had received for Christmas; though she couldn't figure out why the dreams she was having after reading the steamy romance novels Hermione had sent her had her playing out the part of the male characters, but she wasn't about to ask about them or let anyone know about the moist messes she found upon waking.

During those three days, Jamie crammed as much information as she could about many topics magical children learn about for several years before attending Hogwarts, such as their family histories and place in society, even more etiquette and rules of conduct, rights, privileges, and responsibilities to family, allies, enemies, and the general populace, and so much more that Jamie doubted she would be able to ever figure it all out on her own, and the one girl she usually turned to for help, hadn't yet responded to the many missives and queries Jamie had sent in the last few days.

The 29th brought about a few more surprises than Jamie was expecting a trip to Potter Manor would bring about.

Hermione finally replied to Jamie's letters:

 _ **Dear Jamie,**_

 _ **It's taken me three months to finally figure this out, and only then with a lot of help from my parents and mentors. I think we should talk, as this is really not something to do through letters.**_

 _ **Your friend,**_

 _ **Hermione**_

The letter just confused Jamie even more than the week long silence had.

After Dora Side-Along Apparited Jamie to the eastern banks of Loch Middle in Scotland, the young Lady Potter called for Reesy to appear before her; however she wasn't expecting five other house elves to appear instead of just the one she called for, especially when they all cried out greetings for Missy Harry and tried hugging her to death.

Potter Manor was gorgeous; Dora said it looked like something from Frank Lloyd Wright with tile mosaic floorings from M. C. Escher. The front had large sweeping windows that almost made the house disappear into the sky while the three terraced balconies, covered in a multitude of greenery, faded into the woods all around, and a natural spring ran like a small river in little waterfalls down to the loch below. Reesy led Jamie and Dora around the palatial seven floor manor with two indoor atriums and a huge arboretum with a grotto for swimming under an enchanted ceiling similar to the one in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. As they wondered through the halls looking at ballrooms and dining rooms for different occasions, libraries, guest suites, family suites, royal suites, training rooms, armories, classrooms, kitchens, and storage areas, Reesy introduced the other elves and spoke a little about where they were posted. Zabby and Nibsy, a mated pair, maintained the Potter Lake House, which was an island fort in the middle of the English Channel, about two miles south of Hastings; Veeny worked at the Potter Island Retreat on the South end of Rona Island in Scotland; and then little Mindy, the youngest of them, who Reesy had working at the manor instead of Potter Cottage in Godric's Hollow since the ministry decided the house should be a war memorial to the defeat of "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." Jamie thought it odd that Zabby was the only male house elf of the lot, and decided to look into picking up another one or two if the elves asked her to. She was not really upset that the ministry had claimed Potter Cottage for a memorial, but she was mad that the ministry had not even thought of putting their request in writing or any form of compensation, just assuming that the proper owner wouldn't care about having the property practically stolen from her.

Dora was hard pressed to talk Jamie out of having Mindy rebuild the place to spite the ministry, but eventually managed to calm the young Lady Potter down. Then again, meeting Sirius Black in the foyer on the way out might have been a major part of that issue being dropped.

* * *

Jamie spent New Year's preparing for returning to Hogwarts and getting Cousin Andy to agree to letting her go to Azkaban for Valentine's Day. She was still a bit awe struck by the fight between Dora and Siri, but once the escaped resident of the wizarding prison managed to dodge behind Jamie, forcing Dora to stop her attack, he managed to talk to the two girls about what had happened to him on the afternoon of November 1st, 1981. Dora still had a hard time believing him until he deliberately stepped away from Jamie and requested she use Veritaserum on him which Reesy promptly delivered to the young Auror trainee. Although when Jamie asked her godfather the quiet question, "You broke out… think you can break back in?" to the shock of the other two; then the pink haired girl and accused mass-murderer nearly lost their minds laughing as Jamie came up with the Valentine's Day rescue plan.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I've had some medical and legal issues in my family recently, so while I may not be updating very regularly for a bit, this story is most definitely not dead yet.

7L Swift-Steppers are Seven-league boots… try Googling some of the items mentioned (I think you'll find them funny). I tried to stay within English, Welsh, Celtic, and Norse mythology since all of them have some influence on each other due to various invasions of the British Isles.

1783 was the end of the War of American Independence, and the Gaunt family has other ties to the Americas so it would stand to reason that Corvinus Gaunt could have been involved in that war.

Hepzibah Smith was the last of her line (Hufflepuff) when Tom Riddle killed her and stole the Locket and Cup... had Tom done so in combat, he would be Heir of Hufflepuff by Conquest, however he did so by treachery making him a Usurper of the line. Thus Harry killing Tom Avenges the line transferring Heirship to the House of Potter, otherwise it the same transfer would occur by Conquest. I'm not entirely sure if that is canon, as different sources have differing opinions on that point… but for this story it will be true.

Now for a breakdown of Lady Harriett Lillian Potter's titles… believe it or not it's almost all canon…

Heiress Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, - by birth

Heiress Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Peverell, - by birth (descendent of Ignotus Peverell)

Heiress Apparent of the Great, Noble, and Most Ancient House of Slytherin – by birth (descendent of Cadmus Peverell's younger brother Ignotus (or directly in my story via Gaunt)) and conquest (Defeat of Tom Riddle)

Heiress Designate of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, - Draco is closer to Sirius by blood but Jamie was named, or designated, as Heiress to the House by Lord Sirius Orion Black

Heiress Apparent of the House of Gaunt, - by birth and conquest (see above)

Heiress Apparent, Avenger of the Most Ancient House of Monroe, - for defeating Tom Riddle who had ended the line

Heiress Apparent, Avenger of the Great, Noble, and Most Ancient House of Hufflepuff, - for defeating Tom Riddle who had ended the line

Daughter of the House of Bulstrode (not mentioned) through Violetta Bulstrode (Dorea Potter Nee Black's mother)

Daughter of the Great, Noble, and Most Ancient House of Gryffindor – In the house but not the Heiress… this is just for my story but the Evans family has magical roots that are not explored in canon and the Welsh name, Evan means "young warrior," which is part of Godric's description in canon (JKR said Harry is not the Heir of Gryffindor, but you must be at least part of the House to be a "true Gryffindor")

Daughter of the House of McGonagall (not mentioned / this story only) through Daisy Iona Goodspeak nee McGonagall (Lily Evans' maternal grandmother)

All of these are Apparent as Jamie is not yet "Of Age" to claim her titles, they would be Presumptive if she had siblings or the current Lord or Lady was still alive. The order of the titles is house of birth, then ascending order of age and nobility, then alphabetically.

The Great just designates it as a Founder's House, but is otherwise unimportant…

* * *

Crushbone - Christmas 2nd year

" **Let's see," the goblin master said when she asked him about her family's holdings other than the vaults here at Gringott's, "There's Potter House in Godric's Hollow, though that's little more than a ruin now, still might be worth something if you rebuild; Potter Manor and Estates in Scotland, probably quite lovely by your people's standards; The Gaunt and Riddle houses in Little Hangleton, neither of those are worth much now either; and then there's Slytherin Tower in South Wales. Your family's combined business holdings still being dealt with through Gringott's earn 1,947,375 Galleons per annum after fees and taxes; And there's more." The goblin said stopping as Jamie held her hand up.**

This by no means limits Jamie's holdings to only what is listed above. Two parts of this particular revelation indicate this: "her family's holdings other than the vaults here at Gringott's" and also "and there's more." Canon says that the Goblin Nation controls Wizarding Wealth, not that all banks are Gringott's… so other locations could be named something else, or this could be referencing a specific branch of that bank, or could even be rival, goblin-owned banks (goblins are a warrior race after all, competition is in their blood)… I really haven't decided yet.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	22. Hermione and the VDRP

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 7**_ _ **–**_ _ **Hermione**_ _ **& the**_ _ **VDRP**_

Tonks was conflicted as she sat in front of her boss, Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She knew the whereabouts of a wanted man, but also knew that man was innocent, and he was _willingly_ heading back to Azkaban, something no sane person would ever contemplate, just because Jamie asked him to go. It's no wonder Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, not even the loyalty of Hufflepuff would cause her to do what he was doing for his goddaughter. She just hoped Jamie's plan worked, her cousin was too good a man to lose to the demons of that prison… and maybe when he got out legally, he could pick up with his fiancé where he'd had to leave her all those years ago. Amy deserved to be happy again too.

The young Metamorphmagus girl was just thankful that none of the other Aurors in the briefing room were Master Legilimencers or she'd really be in trouble, Amy was looking at her funny enough as it was.

* * *

Hermione found Jamie sitting alone in the last compartment at the very end of the Hogwarts' Express nearly two hours before its' departure time on the 4th of January. Which was fortunate for the bushy-haired witch as she wanted as few possible witnesses to what she was about to do as possible. Without even saying 'hello' to the younger girl, Hermione pulled Jamie up by the front of her robes and kissed her full on the mouth. When the two pulled back from each other, both were blushing furiously.

Hermione stood stock still with a look that Jamie recognized as her friend's 'seriously thinking' face, "Not that I'm complaining 'Mione… but what was that for?"

Hermione shook her head, "I was pretty sure… just wanted to be certain."

"About?"

"You... Me... Us…"

"Care to elaborate?"

"You're into girls, I'm not, so where does that leave us?"

"Best friends."

"What?"

"'Mione… I _really_ like you… but I'm never going to force you into something you don't want." Jamie quickly placed her small hand over Hermione's mouth to prevent the older girl from interrupting, "No… just listen… since September there's been a… a wall… between us and these last two weeks, especially since I read those books you sent me for Christmas, I've been thinking about a lot of things, and I found out a bit more about my family." Jamie shook her head knowing this wasn't coming out very clearly, "I know you don't, but even if you did like me, like I like you, we couldn't be anything but friends. I have my lineage to perpetuate. According to Daphne, I'll probably wind up as little more than a broodmare with all the family lines I have. It's _sickening_ to think about, especially since my ' _husband'_ will take all the power my lineage affords me for himself."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know I'm the Heiress of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter right?"

"Yes."

"There's also Slytherin, as we learned last year," Hermione nodded, "and Black, although I'm not sure why I was designated," Hermione looked at Jamie quizzically, "then there is also Peverell, Gaunt, Monroe, and Hufflepuff… plus whatever my husband brings into the mix." Hermione's eyes grew larger with each family named. "When Daphne and I talked, she said that polygamy was legal for Wizards to help with situations like this, but not for Witches unless it's through their husband for the _husband's_ benefit."

"Good for you then that I've been researching this already."

"Hunh?"

"I looked into it… same sex partnerships… just in case that kiss was something different." She shook her head, "While the Wizarding world is way behind the Muggle world in most everything, sort of Victorian, it seems that they are more open to the ancient Roman and Greek ideas of relationships, rather than the Christian ideals prevalent in the Muggle world right now."

"Hunh?"

"Don't flaunt it in public much and no one will care. They even have magical ways for women to bare children without having sex with men."

"Really?"

"Yeah… and I'm not completely sure yet, but I think that method would allow a woman to 'father' a child as well. You'd probably only be able to have daughters, but it's something I need to look further into yet."

"That's… I don't know… wow."

"Unhuh, yeah… I can't be your girlfriend Jamie, let alone your wife… I'm just not built that way… but you don't necessarily have to have a 'husband' to perpetuate your family names or control your interests in the Wizengamot."

"Good to know." Jamie said pulling Hermione into the seat next to her, "Now I just have to find a girl I like that likes me that way too."

"Jamie… you're Harriett Potter… you could probably get anyone you want."

"Doubtful… the only girl I've really been interested in so far just mashed her lips to mine and turned me down. You do know that doesn't really count as a kiss right?" Jamie asked with a smirk.

"Well… yeah… uhm… we'll just have to work on finding you the right girl," Hermione said blushing again. "How was your trip with Daphne and Tracy? And did you just say you're Heiress to Hufflepuff?"

Jamie and Hermione talked for hours about their winter breaks from school, joined by Daphne and Tracy with others dropping in occasionally. That night, Jamie lay pondering another question Hermione had asked that the former boy hadn't been thinking much about, just what were the curses that the goblins had removed from her? Unable to sleep, she padded quietly down to the common room and began drafting a letter to Master Crushbone to find out.

Master Crushbone's reply came the next morning at breakfast. While he refused to write what the black curse had been, he did promise to relay that information to her the next time she was in to see him. He listed out a lot of minor charms and enchantments, such as an owl redirection ward, that the Thieves' Folly had removed, and explained that the white curse, an antipathy and aversion spell, was so entwined with the transfiguration it had taken them a couple hours to remove, but was mostly harmless. It was the black curse that had caused her to be in the Gringott's hospital ward under sedation for three days, they had dealt with curses very similar in the past, but never had encountered one within a person, and so had to do a bit of research before removing it. Her goblin Account Manager also wrote that his colleagues in Russia, France, Brazil, America, Japan, and Australia were eager to get in contact with her as well to discuss the Potter Holdings overseas, as were the Account Keepers for the rest of her families.

Jamie was a bit shocked that she had yet more Potter inheritance she hadn't known about, and simply showed Hermione Master Crushbone's letter, who immediately went into research mode trying to figure out what kind of black curse was usually put on an object, but was so dark people wouldn't even write about them; completely ignoring the fact that people not writing about them would cause a distinct lack of written knowledge on that particular subject. Maybe she was trying to figure it out by finding what was missing, the whole exercise just gave Jamie a headache.

* * *

Life at Hogwarts returned to the general sense of normalcy that had existed prior to the Christmas Break, and while the wall between Jamie and Hermione had been breached, it wasn't completely gone yet, though it showed very promising signs that it would be before the end of the year and life in their dorm room was much more friendly.

Professor Morgan's Ancient Studies group moved into studying Egypt and surprised everyone with a visit by a curse-breaker from Gringott's, Bill Weasley. Jamie could tell he was rather handsome and enjoyed teasing Hermione for her instant crush on the rock star looking older brother of the Twins; but Hermione's crush paled in comparison to Oliver's, it seemed Jamie isn't the only one to play for the on-side team.

In Ancient Runes, Professor Babbling split up the class into three groups for a research project, but she picked the groups so that the students from different houses had to work together, so Hannah was with Tracy, Hermione was with Susan, and Jamie was with Daphne and Megan working on deciphering and then translating the Cuneiform, Demotic and Ndyuka into Latin without knowing what the initial language is first, before researching what the three spells have in common, how they differ, where they are from, why they were made the way they were, and a host of other questions. While the two teams of two only had to do two of the three languages, Jamie's group had to do all three (to keep it fair), which was totally unfair until Megan told her teammates that her aunt in the North of Brazil had travelled the area extensively and taught Megan to read a few of the lesser known forms of writing.

After being on a first name basis with Daphne during the break, it felt a little awkward going back to calling her Heiress Greengrass all the time, but she did notice the silver bracelet the blonde Slytherin was playing with throughout the class and determined to try to find a time to be alone with the pretty girl to ask her about it.

Care of Magical Creatures was still stuck on Flubberworms, while Hagrid became more and more morose as Buckbeak's "trial" for attacking Malfoy approached. Even with Jamie's help, Hermione had not been able to find any useful information in the library as there were next to no books on law included and nothing less than two hundred years out of date. The class was actually worse than History of Magic and if it weren't for the fact that Jamie liked Hagrid and Hermione, Daphne, and Blaise all begged her to continue auditing the class and sharing information from _Fauna Forays: Guide to Magizoology_ , Jamie would probably have stopped attending.

Professor Vector became rather cross with a few of her students' parents when she discovered that they had not advanced beyond simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in their pureblood home studies prior to Hogwarts, and after spending most of her time in the fall term trying to get them all caught up, she was finally ready to begin teaching Arithmancy to the class. She'd briefly considered kicking a few students from the class, but then would have had to combine the two sections into one and that would have play all kinds of havoc with her student's schedules, so she opted for the lesser of two evils, forcing her students to write home requesting their parents buy _Numerology and Grammatica_ to revise the basic studies while giving the more advanced students extra credit work to do instead.

* * *

Dora played her part in the Valentine's Day Rescue Plan perfectly. Using her Metamorph abilities to turn into Sirius Black and invade Hogwarts the night before. The only thing that really worried Jamie, was a prophecy Lavender and Parvati were discussing that Professor Trelawney gave just as the two girls were leaving her classroom for lunch the day before:

THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVENTHAS BEEN CHAINDTHESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT…BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVENT WILL SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORDWILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVENT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS. TONIGHT… BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVENT WILL SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER.

Jamie hated prophecies in general, but this sounded too specific and would have happened last night, so there was nothing really that she could do but ignore it and pray that it had nothing to do with her and her plans, though she doubted that she would be so fortunate.

When the Auror contingent arrived Monday morning to search the castle for her godfather again, Jamie walked right up to the leader of the group, Rufus Scrimgeour, and demanded that he send her to Azkaban since they were so determined that Black was after her and everyone knew where he was not. The normally stoic and unflappable Auror didn't know what to make of the irate thirteen year old girl until Auror Cadet Tonks and Senior Auror Shacklebolt, offered to escort Jamie to the prison for the day just to keep her out of everyone's way.

The three were out of the castle and gone before Dumbledore managed to hike down from his office to find out why the Aurors were present.

* * *

While 'The Servant" of Trelawney's new prophecy was making his escape, Padfoot was hiding amongst the supply shipment crossing the channel to the lonely rock upon which the dark, dreary and dreaded wizarding prison of Azkaban loomed, shrouded in layers of enchantments and hordes of vile Dementors. He still thought he was crazy for agreeing to this plan, but also thought it was probably the most likely to succeed… not to mention a great prank on the entire Wizarding World… Merlin he loved his goddaughter.

Slinking through the shadows once the boat docked, not quite retracing his escape route in reverse from roughly nine months previous, Padfoot stealthily made his way back up to the Maximum Security cells. He had originally thought about just returning to his own cell, but then remembered that he wouldn't be able to explain away the fact that he was alive after no had food had been delivered there in so long and decided to play a little harmless prank on his dear cousin Bellatrix… well she and her Master wouldn't think so, but what did he care. The cell next to the one he had previously occupied, housed his dear cousin's loving, caring, and most honorable husband, Rodolphus Lestrange.

Taking inspiration from the Holly Wood and Unicorn Hair wand he had… acquired… while he was away, Padfoot transformed back into Sirius Black and quickly stunned Rodolphus through the small window in the cell door. After a quick unlocking spell, and a long lasting transfiguration spell turning dear old Rodolphus into a Rudolph the Reindeer gingerbread Christmas cookie, Sirius delivered said cookie to his equally kind, loving and emotionally stable cousin wishing her a Very Merry Christmas. She sneered and hurled foul curses at him before quickly snatching the cookie from the floor and biting its' head off. Sirius shuddered slightly as he made his way back to the cell of his cousin's now former husband, silently debating if that actually counted as murder, accessory to murder, accessory to cannibalism, or something else entirely… he hadn't told her to eat the cookie after all. He also wondered how the magic of her Marriage Contract would affect his cousin from this cheery end.

After locking himself into the cell, Sirius debated what to do with the wand, keep it, hide it, or get rid of it. All options were equally bad in his opinion… keeping it runs the risk of it being found and ruining the plan, but gives him a better chance of being able to re-escape… hiding it lessens the chance of it being found, but if the plan works, then it runs the risk of someone else using the wand to escape… and getting rid of it, forces him to rely solely on his goddaughter's plan or miraculously being able to re-accomplish his amazing feat of escaping this hell hole.

The problem was, he didn't have long to decide what he would do… the sun was already starting to brighten the sliver of sky he could see through the window at the end of the hall from his new cell door.

* * *

As much as Jamie hates prophecies, she hates Dementors more, and for some insane reason she completely forgot about the hundreds of the evil creatures that swarmed around Azkaban when she came up with this hair-brained scheme. Immediately after she stepped off the boat, one of the creatures swooped down on her and, only due to the many hours of training, Jamie managed a very weak, silver, mist-like shield from her Patronus charm instead of just passing out. Luckily Auror Shacklebolt's Lynx Patronus sent the creature scurrying away before Jamie's charm failed.

"Impressive attempt, I wouldn't have thought a third-year capable of achieving so much with the Patronus charm." The tall African Auror commented.

"Yeah…" Jamie replied weakly, "Professor Lupin's been trying to teach me the charm using a Bogart, but I just can't seem to find the right kind of memory."

"That's why I said it was impressive." The Auror said looking at her shrewdly, "The fact that your shield form Patronus even formed means you have some powerful memories, but it needs to be the right kind of memory. May I ask what you were using?"

"Professor Lupin said it has to be a 'happy' memory… but I really don't have many of those, so instead of a specific memory I was trying something a little different."

"Such as?" the pink haired Auror Cadet prompted.

"Hermione."

"Pardon?" Auror Shacklebolt wondered confusedly.

"She's my best friend. Practically all of my happiness at Hogwarts involves her in some way."

"Do you love her?" Tonks asked.

"I… I think so… but she's not…" Jamie sighed shaking her head, "There's nothing between us but friendship."

"I think Tonks is on the right track to you forming your Patronus. I hadn't thought of using the very concept of a person before, but Love is certainly a powerful positive emotion." The man said nodding in thought, "Just be sure to use Love and not Lust."

"Right…" Tonks said, "Shall we?" she waved her arm to indicate moving towards the gate house.

Jamie was glad that had stopped asking if she was sure about visiting the prison after they boarded the boat, because if they had asked her that question again as they approached the gate house, she might have chickened out, but her godfather was counting on her.

* * *

Dumbledore was stomping back and forth and muttering imprecations under his breath and the Potter brat, and DMLE interference with his plans, while desperately trying to maintain a façade of outward serenity or mild disappointment that HE or his people would not be able to handle this event on their own, as per usual. What was most vexing, however, was the Potter brat escaping his clutches again, and Amelia _ordering_ HIM to stay put while _she_ retrieves the brat.

Maybe he should visit Nurmengard and see if his old friend could help with this conundrum; perhaps he could even be persuaded to rejoin the cause. It really was a shame what happened to his old flame's little sister Ariana, but some sacrifices must be made for the Greater Good.

* * *

After a twenty minute hike through the prison's dank hallways, Jamie was really regretting this plan and only the thought of her godfather awaiting ahead, and her Gryffindor courage, kept her moving forward with it. Just as they reached the open door to her godfather's former cell they heard the sound of running feet quickly approaching.

"Auror Shacklebolt! Cadet Tonks! What is the meaning of this?"

Shacklebolt turned to the new arrival, "The young miss wanted to see."

"WHAT?" the director interrupted him, "She wanted to see, so you COMPLETELY disregard all protocols and bring a CHILD TO THIS PLACE?"

"What's this ruckus?" a voice asked from the next cell.

"Shut it Lestrange!" the accompanying guard yelled at the same time Amelia quietly said, "Siri?"

Quickly moving to the next cell, Amelia repeated her quiet question and Jamie's godfather replied, "Yes Amy… I'm here. Has Crouch found time to give me a trial yet?"

"Crouch? Trial?" Tonks asked confusedly, expertly executing her part in the plan.

"My predecessor," Amelia replied off-handedly to the cadet, "What do you mean you never got a trial?"

"Did Dora tell you what we found at Potter Manor last week?" Jamie asked before Sirius could answer.

"I have little time to hear the vacation stories of Cadets," annoyed at the interruption.

"Tonks and I found the original of this," Jamie said handing Amelia a shrunken packet of parchment, "locked under blood seal, within a blood sealed vault, in a Manor with locked down wards that was also under Fidelius… _Someone_ wanted to make sure it was secured."

Confused by the level of security the young witch mentioned, she took the bundle, "What is it?"

"My parent's Will."

* * *

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

You can't say that bit about Jamie and Hermione is really a surprise to anyone… and while you can probably work out who Jamie's girlfriend will eventually be from my favorite stories. I'm still working out how to get them to that place through canon-ish means… but that will probably not come to being until at least halfway through fourth year.

For those of you who do not know… the ellipses (three periods), especially in dialogue, reference a picking up, a falling off, or a brief pause in the sentence (a bit longer than a comma represents). For the most part, grammatically, they are identical to commas.

I try to give a lot of hints to things in my writing, and if you don't understand something, please look it up, nothing will be talked about that will move beyond the rating of the story so you should be perfectly safe.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	23. The Will

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Seg**_ **ment 8** **–** **The Will**

Madam Amelia Bones stood flabbergasted and staring at the young raven haired witch who had just dropped her parent's Will into the hands of the Director of the DMLE, while standing outside of Rodolphus Lestrange's cell inside Azkaban, which contained, not Rodolphus but Sirius Black, the young girl's godfather, who had been 'missing' for nearly three-quarters of a year. A quick review of the 'facts' and a look through the Will had her ordering Senior Auror Shacklebolt to bring Mr. Black with them as they departed the prison while Cadet Tonks was to make sure Miss Potter was taken to St. Mungo's for a checkup due to exposure to the Dementor Swarm and then returned to Hogwarts.

To everyone's surprise, the first thing Sirius did when the cell door opened was wrap Jamie in a huge hug while spinning her about; which, judging by the way the young lass stiffened, scared the girl more than a little at first.

During the hour long boat ride in the skiff, that was the only method of travel to and from the island prison, Amelia went through the Will in detail with both her former fiancé and his blood-bound goddaughter. The more she read, the more they talked, the more pissed off she became at one miserable, old, white-bearded bastard who had _asked_ for a small contingent of Dementors to be assigned to a school filled with children.

Needless to say, she wanted answers, and she'd be _damned_ if she was going to let anyone stop her investigation now.

* * *

"Hey, sis?" Jamie asked while waiting for the medi-wizard to check her over at St. Mungo's.

The pink haired Auror trainee turned to the younger witch, "Yeah?"

"Do you think this'll work?"

Dora hugged the smaller witch to her side gently, "Little late to be asking that now isn't it?"

"I guess so, but I'm still worried," Jamie stated while staring out the window as if looking for her godfather.

"I am too… but we'll just have to see what happens and go from there."

"Unhmm…" Jamie nodded agreeing; then turned to look at Dora, "I was wondering something else too."

"What's that?"

"How do you get someone to notice you?"

"Got your eye on a boy is it?" The Auror cocked an eye-brow and her parent's ward in question.

"Nnnhnn…" Jamie said shaking her head.

"Hermione?" Dora asked the former boy thinking about their earlier conversation.

Jamie looked dejected, but like she was also trying to hide that fact, "No… not really… I mean… but we talked and don't think it could work out. I was just asking in general, you know… thinking about next year maybe."

"Still planning on asking mom for a transfer? Or should we cancel the Easter trip to the States?"

"Yeah, I don't think I can put up with some of the stuff going on at Hogwarts much longer… but I will miss a few of my classes and my friends."

"That's the downside of the transfer, but you'll also be able to make new friends as well."

"I know… it's just…"

"They're not the same?"

"I guess…"

"Miss Potter?" The medi-wizard asked stepping into the room.

"Yes, sir?" the raven-haired girl replied.

"We'll try to make this quick so you can get back to school. Please put your wand on the shelf and stand up with your arms out to the sides."

"What's wrong with wands?" Jamie asked as she pulled out the Holly and Phoenix Feather wand.

"The magic cores can interfere with the scan." He replied as she sat the wand down, but rather than turning to face him as he'd asked, she then started reaching down the back of her shirt.

"What are you doing?" The medi-wizard asked curiously.

"Putting my wands on the shelf so they don't interfere with the scan."

"Wands? As in more than one?"

"Yes sir," Jamie answered, "The second was a rather recent gift from a dear friend, not many people know about it," She continued as she pulled out another Holly wood wand.

Dora hid her smirk behind her hand, guessing pretty accurately just where the new wand had come from.

* * *

Auror Cadet Tonks received a summons from her Director, Amelia Bones, to bring Miss Jamie Potter to Gringott's 'immediately.' Jamie had no idea what was going on really, but decided to not take any chances when she was diverted, by the girl she looked at as a sister, to the goblin run bank as they stepped outside of St. Mungo's.

Half an hour later, the two girls were sitting side-by-side at a table with Amelia, Master Crushbone, the local Potter Account Manager, Lord Ragnok the Sixth, Prince of the Goblin Nation, and Sirius Black, Jamie's godfather, while they waited for Jamie's Guardians, Theodore and Andromeda Tonks, to arrive to fill the last two seats. Jamie was doing her best to ignore the Aurors and dozens of other goblins ranged throughout the room, though from Master Crushbone's last message, and the way some of the other goblins were dressed or looking at one another, she guessed at least a few of them were other account managers for her various Houses.

Just as Ted slipped into his seat, after helping Andy into hers, Lord Ragnok opened the meeting. "Earlier today," he started with a voice that sounded like gravel being crushed, "Madam Bones brought a document before our nation to be verified." He laid the document on the table before him, "This document is the Last Will and Testament of the late Lord James Charlus and Lady Lily Rose Potter, and has been validated."

Lord Ragnok then looked at Jamie, "Miss Potter, is it your wish for this Will to be made public at this time?"

"I… um… Lord Ragnok, sir… I did not know why we had been called to attend this meeting; however, I see no need to delay any party or parties mentioned in the Will from hearing my parents' wishes any longer."

"You have read this?"

"Not completely Lord Ragnok, but enough of it to bring the document and my concerns to Madam Bones with regards to my godfather."

The sound of goblins chuckling was very disconcerting to the various witches and wizards in attendance.

"There are five who's names are listed here, and have active Life-Stones here in Gringott's, that are not present for this reading. They are, Remus Lupin, Lord Franklin and Lady Alice Longbottom, Peter Pettigrew, and Severus Snape. Due to the unexplained disappearance of this document from the Potter Account records here at Gringott's, and the excessive amount of time incurred between the loss of Lord and Lady Potter and the execution of their Will; we will proceed without them." Ragnok turned to Jamie again, "How would you prefer to notify those not present of your parents' wishes?"

Jamie chuckled as a thought popped into her head, "Publish the Will in the Daily Prophet."

Ragnok chuckled again, "Very well, let us begin." The goblin Prince then fed the document into a strange contraption on the table that lit up displaying the document on the wall behind him and reading the words in a slightly feminine voice.

-LW&T-

I, James Charlus Potter, and I, Lily Rose Potter nee Evans, do hereby state our Will with regards to our Daughter, Harriett Lillian Potter, and all of our holdings, be they monetary or physical. This Will, created on this the 1st day of August, in the Year of Our Lord 1981, does override and replace all previous incarnations of this document.

First and foremost, the most precious of all that our name is attached to, our daughter Harriett, should she survive beyond us, is to be placed in the care of the following people, in order of desired guardianship unless unavailable or unwilling to accept the responsibility:

Jointly or severally, Sirius Orion Black, III, Harriett's blood-bound godfather, and Amelia Susan Black nee Bones; We know the wedding is in December but we have no doubts about the two of you, I just hope I still fit into that Bride's Maid dress from Edgar's wedding, we found out this morning I'm carrying twin boys. Should we pass before updating this Will again, we ask that you also take them in with our daughter Harriett. Our family needs to stick together Siri, you know Charlus would adopt you in an instant if you asked, and with Ami at your side I know you'll be great.

Jointly or severally, Lord Franklin William Longbottom and Lady Alice Renee Longbottom nee Wood, Harriett's blood-bound godmother; the two of you have been our friends for nearly as long as we can remember, though we were not close until we went through Lamaze classes together. Though we were in Gryffindor and you in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw (respectively), you restored our faith that the Hogwarts Houses don't matter nearly as much as some people believe they do. We ask that, should Sirius and Amelia be unable to, you take in our wonderful daughter (and her twin brothers who are yet to be born) and teach her (them) to keep an open mind with regards to Houses and also to remember that not everyone in their own House is worthy of trust.

Jointly or severally, Charlus Fleamont Potter and Dorea Lacerta Potter nee Black – both deceased 13 Oct 1981.

Remus John Lupin; despite your "furry little problem," you know we trust you and that you will protect our little Angel (and her brothers). Please teach her (them) all there is to know about life, so that she (they) may know that there is less to be afraid of in our world than many in our society strive to make people fear.

Theodore Edward Tonks and Andromeda Belvina Tonks nee Black; Sirius claims you are his only trustworthy kin, though we've had little interaction with you ourselves, and since you've been disowned from the House of Black as well as our dear almost-brother, we'll take that as confirmation of his belief, please take care of our daughter (and sons). But before you take guardianship of her (them) we require of you an Oath of Honor to protect, raise, and guide her (them) as a child (children) of House Potter should be raised.

Jointly or severally Anthony Edward Goodspeak (squib), Lily's cousin in the United States, and Rachel Marie Goodspeak nee Andrews (muggle); though we would prefer Harriett (and our sons) be raised in the magical world, we know you would take care of teaching her (them) about her (their) heritage and would not be afraid of the random bouts of accidental magic Harriett is already performing.

We considered adding Albus Wulfric Dumbledore (yes we know he added two more names to himself), but feel that he already has enough to do and asking him to add raising our daughter (and sons) would be a detriment to all involved.

Under no circumstances should Harriett (or her brothers) be placed in the care of Peter Timothy Pettigrew, Severus Alan Snape, Vernon Richard Dursley or Petunia Fiona Dursley nee Evans, Lily's sister.

Peter, as our Secret Keeper we placed our lives in your hands and you've betrayed us, our Will was enchanted in such a way that the only way you would be seeing this entry is if James passed before me and neither of us passed naturally. May you rot in Hell with your new "Master."

Severus, while I can forgive you for your words that ended our friendship; your actions have shown that we cannot trust you with the life (lives) or our daughter (and sons). Hopefully you will come to your senses and we can reconcile in the future, but it looks rather doubtful at this time.

Vernon and Petunia, I know how much magic scares you and would never ask you to take in our daughter (and sons) knowing that your fear would drive your actions regarding her (them). Farewell sis, my only regret with you is the wedge my magic has driven between us.

To aid the guardian(s) of our daughter (and sons), we leave the sum of 500 Galleons per month (for each of our children) to cover expenses and make all of your lives a little happier.

To Sirius and Amelia Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Tony and Rachel Goodspeak, we leave 30,000 Galleons each, we would leave more but have others we need to take care of as well and want to make sure our daughter (and sons) have something to start with without relying on Charlus and Dorea to much.

To Ted and Andromeda Tonks, if they have custody of Harriett (and our sons), we also leave 30,000 Galleons.

To Albus Dumbledore we leave 60,000 Galleons to aid in the fight against the Dark.

To Peter Pettigrew we leave 30 Sickles.

The balance of our wealth, investments, and property, including our House Elves whom are more family to us than property as they are classed by the Ministry, we leave to our daughter Harriett with the express order to share with her brothers (once they are born) as we would desire, and trust that, if she is raised by the guardians we have named above, she will know what our desires are.

Signed

James Charlus Potter

Lily Rose Potter

Witness

Sirius Orion Black, III, godfather of firstborn

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock

Groinripper, Potter Account Manager of Gringott's London

-LW&T-

"That's what just over 420,000 Galleons? I thought the Potters were rich?" one of the Aurors in the room asked.

"Shut it Dawlish," Amelia immediately ordered.

Ragnok then turned to Jamie, "At the time this Will was made, James Potter was not yet Lord Potter and only had a little less than a million Galleons in their personal account. However, at the time of their passing, the Lordship of House Potter had passed, and with it the considerable assets of the House."

"That bastard," Jamie said quietly.

"Jamie?" Dora asked.

"Bumblemore! I brought the Will to Madam Bones when I read that Sirius was my blood-bound godfather and either Sirius or Amelia were supposed to be the first choice of my guardian; so I should never have been with the Dursleys, even without the line about them specifically. That bastard _WITNISSED_ my parents' Will and deliberately chose to not follow their wishes. I bet he's the one that hid the Ministry and Gringott's copies of their Will too! I am so done with him."

"Miss Potter," Ragnok said to call attention back to himself, "normally you must be at least fourteen years of age, or emancipated, to claim your family headship, however, being the last of your line you can also claim that right upon the reading of the last Lord's Will. Do you wish to take up your title?"

Jamie thought for a moment, "What would be required of me if I do?"

"For House Potter, nothing; for many of your Houses, nothing; but for House Hufflepuff and Slytherin you would need to remain at Hogwarts through the fourteenth anniversary of your birth. I would recommend posting proxies to the Wizengamot for your houses however as you cannot vote in that body until you are sixteen years of age."

"So taking up one means I have to take them all up?"

"No, but you should."

"Sirius? Andy?" Jamie asked looking to her godfather and guardian.

"You should pup," Sirius answered while Andy nodded.

Jamie was overcome with sadness for a moment, then nodded herself, "Okay then, I will."

Master Crushbone sat six ring boxes in front of Jamie while Sirius tossed a seventh to Dora who sat it beside the others.

Jamie slipped the Potter ring on her right ring finger and watched fascinated as it resized and shifted itself into a more feminine form, then followed Master Crushbone's instructions to slip each of the others, Monroe, Gaunt, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Peverell, onto the same finger where they to shifted and resized before merging with the Potter ring, and finally the Black ring joined the others, sitting snugly against, but did not merging with the Lady's ring.

"You now head five ennobled Houses, do you know who you wish to name as proxy for each?"

"Ted, Andy, Amelia… Would you?"

"Would we what dear?" Ted asked.

"Ted, would you represent Monroe and Slytherin, Andy, Potter and Peverell, and Amelia, Hufflepuff?"

"You sure about a Muggleborn representing Slytherin?" Ted asked.

"Yes."

"Fine with me dear," Ted assented.

"I'll do it," Andy said, "so long as it doesn't interfere with my work at St. Mungo's too much."

"I'm already there as Regent Bones and Head of the DMLE, why not add Hufflepuff into the mix."

"Now all we need is to get Lord Black over there cleared, and we'll be all set." Jamie said then turned to Ragnok again, "Is that all or is there more to this meeting?"

"That is all I need to be involved with, so I will withdraw; however, now that you have taken up your headships and been emancipated, these others will need to speak with you."

"Who are they?"

Ragnok chuckled again, "Your account managers."

Jamie slunk down in her chair as Ragnok departed, there had to be nearly fifty other goblins in the room. This was going to be a very long day.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

What… you thought after the whole debate Sirius had with himself about the wand, it was just going to disappear? It'll play a part of things in the future… and although both of Jamie's wands are made from Holly, they are very different in appearance.

I had a few questions about potential relationships and why I decided against H/Hr for this one… Originally I thought that Hermione would be Jamie's girlfriend... however after reading so many stories that have the Harry get the first girl/boy he/she's after, I thought a bit more reality would be in order... most people don't get to be with their first crush... and Hermione being raised the way she was, and during that time, is less likely to be into girls than the one(s) that Jamie will end up with.

\- Had to make a correction - it was 30 not 13 sickles... I picked this up from Vance McGill's The Harem War ( www. fanfiction s/11035814/10/The-Harem-War) - I thought it highly appropriate coming from Lily rather than Sirius...

Radaslab's The Harem War ( www. fanfiction s/5639518/8/The-Harem-War) is also very good...

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	24. Of Spells and Sorrow

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 9**_ _ **–**_ _ **Of Spells and Sorrow**_

Jamie finally returned to Hogwarts on the 16th of February, just in time for lunch and a lecture by Professor McGonagall followed by an even longer one by the white-bearded bastard himself and only managed to join her classmates for the last half of Charms for the day.

She felt like chilled Dragon Dung after dealing with all of her goblin account managers and managing to forge them into a semi- cordial alliance where she only had to deal with one goblin manager for each House instead of nearly sixty of the surly berks, but knew the first chance Hermione got the older girl would be pumping her for information. What surprised Jamie though was that Hermione focused, not in the financial side of things, or the hundreds of properties Jamie now owned (purposefully not mentioning any House Elves), but on the spells Master Crushbone had mentioned in his last letter.

"Master Crushbone and the Goblin Healers at Gringott's think that when The Black Curse was combined with the White 'Aversion and Antipathy' Curse and the 'permanent' Transfiguration is why no one knew I was born a girl."

"So what was the Black Curse?"

"It doesn't have a name… it was a complex amalgamation of an Information Fidelis Charm, to hide any existing knowledge, kind of like a blanket Obliviation Charm, to remove the specific knowledge of my true name and gender from anyone that knew of Harriett Lillian Potter, a Bedazzling Hex, to conceal the remaining physical clues, a variant of the Thief's Curse, to prevent healers from looking too deeply, and a Taboo Curse tied to Albus Dumbledore, to alert him if the information is learned, so he can then Apparate directly to me and Obliviate the heck out of anyone present to hide the truth again. All those spells were so interweaved they were actually merged into one completely new spell, bound to my magical core, which is why it was so difficult for the Goblin Healers to remove."

"A core of seven spells in three parts… form, emotion, and knowledge… three and seven are very powerful magical numbers… one, two, and four… increasing Geometric Sequence or… there were other spells removed right?"

"Yeah, about a dozen I think. Why?"

"It's triangular. One, three with a base of two, six with a base of three, this part must have been washed away entirely, and then ten with a base of four, but one isn't on the surface… wasn't on you… which would make it the binding element."

"Huhn?"

"Kind of like the 'Secret' a Fidelis Charm's 'Secret Keeper' holds… it's part of the spell but not covered by the spell. You said Dumbledore still can't call you a girl… and these spells were linked to him… maybe he's still bound by them even though you are not. It's all linked triads, spells bound in patterns of threes. It also means there were twenty spells total, nineteen on you… nineteen being a prime number which adds to the power of the spells making them even _more_ difficult to overcome. If Dumbledore, the 'greatest wizard alive,' cast them, then that Thieves' Folly was must be _really_ powerful magic. I wonder if the goblins would let me study it?"

"Interesting, where did you learn about all that?"

"Oh… fifth year Arithmancy. It's rather easy I think."

"Only you, Hermione."

* * *

Thursday morning brought out a whole new can of worms. Madam Bones and Master Crushbone had evidently conspired to use the Daily Prophet to best advantage and announce a special session of the Wizengamot on the 19th to deal with 'issues' regarding the Potter Will, a full trial for the "Accused Sirius Black," the disappearance of Rodolphus Lestrange, the strange magical prism that now encases Bellatrix Lestrange within her cell inside Azkaban that has the Unspeakables stumped, and other 'irregularities' arising from the actions of the current Chief Warlock.

Jamie fled to Arithmancy very early that morning in an attempt to avoid the barrage of questions coming from all sides; many wondering what she had against their 'beloved' headmaster and just how evil was she for _defaming_ the 'Leader of the Light'. Not that she had much luck, as Hermione was waiting for her at the classroom door with disapproval etched in every line of her face.

"How could you do it, Potter?" The older girl demanded angrily.

Not the least bit unaware of what the question was about, Jamie decided to ask anyway, "Do what, Hermione?"

"Turn against the Headmaster like this!" The brunette shoved that morning's Daily Prophet at the raven haired lass.

'Who are you, and what have you done with Hermione?' Jamie thought as she opened the paper. Feigning surprise, Jamie quickly read over a few of the highlights of the paper, "Potter Will? You mean my parents had a Will?"

"Like you didn't know after that stunt you pulled Monday!" the bushy haired girl yelled, before huffing and storming away.

A few minutes later Hermione waked up to Jamie who was now actually reading the Daily Prophet, "Why are you reading in the hallway, Jamie? I'm sure Professor Vector wouldn't mind you being in the classroom early."

Jamie quickly stood up and hugged Hermione, "I was waiting for you and trying to figure out a way to locate you without risking missing you by accident by leaving here."

"Why?"

"I have a new research project for us… how to make ourselves look like other people, you know… altering our appearance as well as voice and scent."

"So not just a glamour then. Hmm… that could be an interesting project. But why?"

"Just a conversation I had this morning with someone sparked an interest is all."

* * *

The mail delivered Friday morning, saw Jamie receive an official summons from the DMLE to attend the Trial of Sirius Orion Black, III, Lord Apparent of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, scheduled for 9 AM the following morning. However, when Jamie brought the missive before the Headmaster to request permission to leave the school grounds on official business, the old man promptly denied the request, locking the Floos and Sealing the Wards so she couldn't leave; even the Owlery was off-limits to her, not that that stopped Hedwig from attending to her pet's needs.

"Aunt Minnie, I'm supposed to be there! The trial starts in twenty minutes!"

"I know Jamie, but there's nothing I can do; the Wards have been sealed."

"I sent Hedwig to Madam Bones last night letting her know that old bastard refused to let me attend an OFFICIAL SUMMONS by the DMLE. That dingbat thinks he can get away with anything."

"He's blocked the gates and closed the Floo Network off from the school… we're stuck here."

"Dobby! Mizyl! Reesy!" A trio of elves popped in before her, "Mizyl, bring me Fragarach when I call for you in the courtroom. Reesy, I'll probably need Aunt Morea's dagger from the Manor Vault. Dobby, can you pop Aunt Minnie and me to…" Jamie turned pale, as if all the blood drained from her face, and started staring at her right hand, shaking her head faster and faster as she quietly started at denial and ended at an anguished, soul-rending scream, "No…no, no, No, No, NO!" before she turned and fled, leaving a very confused Deputy Headmistress alone in her office with a very sad looking house-elf.

"What just happened?" Minerva asked rhetorically.

"Mistress' rings bes merging." The house-elf said sadly then popped away.

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Order of Merlin – First Class, Defeater of Grindlewald, Grand Sorcerer, Leader of the Light, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, entered the chambers of the Wizengamot whistling a jaunty tune. His blue eyes twinkling as he nodded to a rather unpretty, short, rotund woman, that heavily resembled a peach colored toad with curly grey hair and a bright pink cardigan.

* * *

The Weasley Twins found Jamie half an hour later slamming her fists on an invisible barrier preventing her from entering the second floor bathroom that was known to be the haunt of Moaning Myrtle. Concerned over the blackened and broken skin, burned and bleeding, the two dragged the young, crying witch to Madam Pomfrey. The distraught girl refused to answer even the simplest of questions however, almost as if she refused to even hear them, and was soon slumbering on one of the Matron's beds.

* * *

The Wizengamot was in an outraged uproar.

The Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was crying while Senior Aurors Shacklebolt and Moody quickly set about dispatching their colleagues to find out what had happened exactly, and who had ordered over twenty Dementors into the waiting room where a magically suppressed and unarmed Sirius Black was waiting with two rookie Aurors for their boss to call on them to present the Accused for trial.

The Chief Warlock and Minister were pleased.

* * *

When Jamie awoke, she slowly took in her surroundings with a silent sigh, then raised her right hand before her face and burst into equally silent sobs, curling up on her side and weeping for her father's best friend, for the man she'd sent to his death.

* * *

The tear tracks staining Dora's cheeks were the first thing Jamie saw the next time she woke up; followed by the headlines on the Daily Prophet: Lord Black Assassinated by Ministry, Rodolphus Lestrange Missing, Potter Will Reveled, and Unspeakables Stumped Over Bellatrix Lestrange Crystallization.

The sorrow filled girl on the bed burst into tears again upon seeing the paper and her sister quickly tossed the rag aside to pull her into a tight hug, "It's not your fault Jamie."

Jamie's silence spoke volumes.

"It's not! You came up with a brilliant plan and it WORKED!"

The younger girl buried her face into the Auror's chest.

"We both agreed to it… Amelia had everything ready… but someone decided to do something we hadn't anticipated… something that should not have happened." Dora's own tears were falling again, "We _will_ find out who did this… and they _will_ know why you _never_ cross a Black!"

"ImmmMss…" the raven haired girl murmured quietly.

"You did _not_ do this Jamie!"

Jamie loosened her grip on Dora and turned away, curling back in on herself in self-loathing and misery.

* * *

When questioned about his interference with an official summons, Albus merely responded with a disappointed, grandfatherly sigh and said that, "murder trials are no place for children." Upon hearing of the young Potter's condition, however, he did have momentary regrets over his actions, but sacrifices must be made for the Greater Good, and this sacrifice would not be the last necessary to achieve that vaunted goal.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

I made a correction to chapter 22… Valentine's Day 1994 was a Monday… and I fixed the Judas' Price in chapter 23 as well if anyone read that before the fix was made.

Some have questioned why I've taken so long to deliver information to Jamie… do you really think you would drop all of this information on an eleven year old who just went through a major, life-changing event knowing full well said child couldn't do anything about any of it for at least two years? Also… Jamie's finding out new information as it becomes available, or thinks of asking for it, and it's being delivered in correlation to her increasing maturity levels (as seen by society not as she actually reaches said level… Jamie's mentally older than her physical age due to Durzkaban).

Jamie could take up the Headships at 13years 6 months of age due to the Will and being the Last of the Line… could actually have been at age 11… just being the Last would make her wait until she turned 14 because without the Will the previous Lord and Lady were technically, legally still ruling the Line, even while dead. Not being the last, even with the Will, would have required the closest adult of the Line to become Regent, if no adult exists, then the Last of Line functions would also come into effect (so Jamie's twin brothers, had they been born, would not negate taking up her headship of the House of Potter, but may have affected the other Houses). Once emancipated, she could then take up the others and name proxies as she was then considered a full adult… even though there are other rules and restrictions that still limit what she can do (voting in the Wizengamot, drinking alcohol, driving tests, etc…have age restrictions, not adult status restrictions).

* * *

I'm not saying that Sirius is completely out of this story (he's got his own Will after all), but I decided to make this happen a little early to allow for a few other things to happen later… death happens when we least expect it, even when we know it's coming.

* * *

Yep… no Harry Horcrux… though Dumbledore will probably still claim it exists… the difficulty in removal had to deal with how it was bound to Jamie's Magical Core. Master Crushbone said that goblins had dealt with similar curses before, meaning amalgamations and extremely complex spells many of which (such as the Fidelis Charm) were not meant to be used directly on people.

Here are a few reminders of previous statements regarding the Curses on Jamie:

 **Goblin Healer Y2S1 ch7 - "Thieves' Folly, striped all magic from your person. The white curse and transfiguration were harmless, but the black curse took us a while to remove safely. We're working on adjusting it a bit so this doesn't happen again."**

 **Master Crushbone Y3S7 ch22 - While he refused to write what the black curse had been, he did promise to relay that information to her the next time she was in to see him. He listed out a lot of minor charms and enchantments, such as an owl redirection ward, that the Thieves' Folly had removed, and explained that the white curse, an antipathy and aversion spell, was so entwined with the transfiguration it had taken them a couple hours to remove, but was mostly harmless.**

Hopefully I conveyed enough information in this chapter give you all a good idea of what happened… and to show off Hermione's prodigious mental capacity and drive to read way ahead in her studies (they are only a bit past the first half of third year and she's already working on fifth year material).

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	25. Decisions & SWA

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 10**_ _ **–**_ _ **Decisions & SWA**_

Jamie was broken.

Over the course of the next five weeks she was little more than an automaton, blankly following directions with absolutely no emotions and barely whispering when she spoke, during the very rare instances that she did so. Professor Lupin even called off their Patronus lessons since Jamie had no will to try casting the spell and the Bogarts were ignoring the girl in front of them as even they were having no luck finding a form that would frighten her.

Yelling at her during Quidditch practice produced no results, the Girl-Who-Lived could hardly get the broom to hover, let alone fly like the wind demon she used to be. Angelina was forced to replace Jamie as Seeker with Ginny Weasley, who borrowed Jamie's new broom from the completely apathetic girl for the mid-March match against Ravenclaw.

Her grades suffered across the board, but she just didn't care.

After five grueling weeks, only Hermione and Daphne even bothered to try anymore, even the teachers had abandoned their broken pupil.

She blamed herself for her godfather's death, denying or ignoring anyone that said differently.

Draco had been overjoyed by Jamie's sorrow, but his insults were met with silence, his hexes and curses ignored, and his boasts unanswered. After more than a month, he'd begun to feel pity, and even remorse, for his actions against the girl he'd hated for so long.

Investigations into Lord Black's assassination were stymied, evidence thrown out or suppressed.

Even the calls for Dumbledore to step down, or to be tried, had lessened from the revelations of the Potter Will.

Dumbledore couldn't have been happier.

* * *

The 27th of March found Jamie with Andy and Master Crushbone in an upstairs room of the Three Broomsticks, warded for extreme privacy; while Dora masqueraded up at the school as her younger 'sister' to hopefully prevent a certain meddling Headmaster from interfering with this meeting, as he had the previous three attempts.

"Lady Potter, you know why we are here today?"

Jamie nodded slightly at Master Crushbone's query.

"The Public Reading for the late Lord Black's Will will be one week from today. Is it your intention to be at that reading?"

Jamie gave the briefest of twitches to indicate a negative response.

"Very well, let us begin."

-LW&T-

I, Sirius Orion Black, III, do hereby state my Will with regards to my House, Betrothed, and all of my holdings, be they monetary or physical. This Will, created on this the 18th day of February, in the Year of Our Lord 1994, does override and replace all previous incarnations of this document.

I don't know why Amy wants me to do this today, since I'll just have to update it again in a few months after the wedding, and I'll do half of this stuff this weekend myself, but here goes.

As the House of Black, by Charter, must be held by a Member of the House, by Blood, in Good Standing, I designate my God-Daughter, Harriett Lillian 'Jamie' Potter, Granddaughter of Dorea Lacerta Potter nee Black as Heiress to the House and Line and ask that she carry out my wishes if I am unable to do so. If something, God forbid, should happen to Jamie, I name Arthur Septimus Weasley, Son of Cedrella Weasley nee Black, as secondary Heir.

For my Betrothed, Amelia Susan Bones, and her niece, Susan Seraphina Bones, I extend the Protection of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black to the Noble and Elder House of Bones through my Heir, and request that she aid the both of you as family should. You don't really need anything I have, but I trust Jamie to help you if you need it.

If I was betrayed, then I leave it to Jamie to deliver the Judas Price to my betrayer, but I know, without doubt, that if my passing has anything to do with the trial this weekend, my little Faun is, in all likelihood, blaming herself without any justifiable reason to do so. You brought me hope, pup, let that shine forth unto others and keep living. I know you would never betray me, so don't take my death upon your shoulders, but place it upon those that prevented me from spending the rest of my life spoiling you rotten. When you do find out who caused it, remember my House's creed, Never Cross a Black.

All of my holdings belong to my House, and thus to my Heir.

Andromeda Belvina Tonks nee Black, I ask my Heir to Reinstate you, and by extension add your Husband, Theodore Edward Tonks, and Daughter, Nymphadora Natalia Tonks, to the House of Black and to also present to you the Dowry you should have had all those years ago.

Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black, I ask my Heir to annul your marriage as the stated terms of two children, including an Heir, be born within ten years, has not been met. The House of Black demands the immediate return of Dowry, fortitude of Bride Price, and Restitution of losses to the House of Black. I leave it to my Heir to banish you from the family, though I strongly suggest my Heir do so.

Narcissa Helena Malfoy nee Black, I ask my Heir to annul your marriage as the stated terms of two children, including an Heir, be born within ten years, has not been met. The House of Black demands the immediate return of Dowry, fortitude of Bride Price, and Restitution of losses to the House of Black. I leave it to my Heir to banish you from the family, though I strongly suggest my Heir do so.

Draco Lucius Malfoy, I ask my Heir to Banish you from the House of Black for your multitude of betrayals to kith and kin.

Harriett Lillian 'Jamie' Potter, know that there are three betrothal agreements with your name on them. It was my intention to negate two of these the moment I was declared a free man and tell you of the third. If I failed to achieve that, I'm sorry. You deserve to find love for yourself, not because some white bearded wanker chose to saddle you with someone, or your father got drunk with Lord Longbottom the week you were born. Don't worry about the penalties, the old bastard had no right and your father, thankfully, wasn't drunk enough to forget a few escape clauses. Please take this opportunity to negate them for yourself, though you may wish to acquaint yourself with Heir Longbottom first.

Arthur Septimus Weasley, grow a pair. Stop letting your youngest get away with things I know you raised your eldest against. I know losing Peggy and Annie was hard on you and your wife, but that's no reason not to stand firm in your beliefs and raise your younger kids properly. You're a good man, start showing it.

Molly Julianne Weasley nee Prewett, I don't know why you did it, but for writing up not one but two Betrothal Agreements, one between Harry James Potter and Ginevra Molly Weasley, and another Harriett Lillian Potter and Ronald Bilious Weasley, with the white bearded wanker, Albus Wulfric Dumbledore, I request my Heir banish you from the House of Black, whether or not Arthur banishes you from House Weasley as well is entirely up to him. I would caution anyone that has had any contact with that woman to get checked for potions; she has been known to use love and loyalty potions in the past.

Albus Wulfric Dumbledore, LEAVE MY GODDAUGHTER ALONE!

Signed

Sirius Orion Black, III

Witness

Amelia Susan Bones, Betrothed of Lord Black, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Crushbone, Potter Account Manager of Gringott's London

Ironhand, Black Account Manager of Gringott's London

-LW&T-

Once Jamie looked up from the Will, Master Crushbone asked, "The Will lays obligations upon you, do you accept these obligations?"

Jamie nodded slightly once more.

"Acceptance must be sworn to."

Jamie glanced away from Master Crushbone for a moment, then raised her wand and whispered more words than she had said in the last three weeks combined, "I, Harriett Lillian Potter, also known as Jamie, Lady of the Houses of Potter, Peverell, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Monroe, and Gaunt, Heiress Designate of the House of Black will accede to my late Lord Black's wishes."

"I know you do not like the number of Houses you already have, but you will be adding more Houses and a Clan to that list," the goblin account manager said with a sigh.

"What?" Andy asked.

"The House Black is descended from the House of Le Fay with Rights of Conquest over the Houses of White and Bell, the English House not the Scottish Clan, and the Scottish Clan of Dunn. The House of Le Fay also brings with it the Sister-House of Ravenclaw."

"Sister-House?" Jamie's guardian whispered.

Master Crushbone nodded, "By the charter of that House, unless and until a legitimate heir can be found for the House, all of its' holdings and interests are controlled by the House of Nearest Relation. Rowena's nearest relation was her sister Morgan of House Le Fay, and thus you young Lady are Regent of Ravenclaw." The goblin then laid out four ring boxes and what appeared to be an iron ringlet before her. "The band goes upon your upper left arm, the rings are the same as before."

Nodding her slight nod, Jamie slowly picked up the rings and donned them, officially taking up her leadership of her new Houses and Clan.

"The Weasley Betrothal Agreements?" Master Crushbone asked.

Jamie whispered, "Negate them."

"The Longbottom Betrothal Agreement?"

"I need to see it first, but will probably negate it as well."

"Bellatrix and Narcissa?" Andy questioned.

"Annul and collect what is owed," Jamie stated quietly.

"Do you wish the same agreement with the new Account Managers as we're arranged with the previous Account Managers?"

Jamie gave her minimalist nod of agreement once more.

"We have a trip to the States next weekend, perhaps Friday evening would work for a short meeting or perhaps the weekend after?" Andy enquired.

"Very well," Master Crushbone said gathering his papers as he prepared to depart.

* * *

Outwardly, very little had changed about Jamie Potter during the next week, although Hermione, and to some extent Daphne, could tell something had happened. No matter how much Hermione begged however, Jamie just wasn't talking. Friday evening saw Jamie walking through the main gate to Hogwarts to meet Andy and Dora, since even the Headmaster locking down the Wards couldn't prevent the majority owner of the castle from moving about as she wished. Surprisingly, Hermione had taken to resetting the Time Turner nightly for the week leading up to the school visit.

The meeting at Gringott's was 'short' by goblin standards, only four hours long, to introduce her to the thirty-seven new Account Managers, only three of which she would need to deal with on a continual basis, and give her an overview of her new estates. After a four hour nap, and an international portkey, Jamie, Andy, and Dora were walking through the front gates of Salem Witch's Academy, New Salem, Rusk County, Texas, in the United States of America.

"I thought this place was in Massachusetts?" Andy asked as their guide arrived.

"Most folks do, and we let 'em," the lanky woman replied.

"Why?" whispered Jamie.

"Hmm, well… you hear 'bout them Witch Trials way back?"

"The ones in 1692 right?" Dora asked.

"Them's the ones. None of our girls was involved mind, but Colonel John Pruitt could see another risin' force 'gainst us and convinced the Board to change location fur safety sake back in the 1840s. Got the Salem Wizard's Institute out in Oregon to move down too a few years later; they's across town now. Nobody expects to find us down here after all that hullabaloo back North."

The pink haired Auror was curious, "And the town? How do you maintain the Statute of Secrecy?"

"Oh, that's easy. Colonel Pruitt set up a big ward 'bout the area. Iffen's you can't handle magic, or want to go blabbin' 'bout it, when you leave town, you forget, or have an uneasy like feelin', and don't wanna come back."

"Interesting… _That_ could be handy to have back home," Andy commented.

"Right," the woman said cracking her knuckles, "Let's get crackin'. I'm Linda Roberts, one of the Defense Instructors here, and you are?"

"I am Andromeda Black-Tonks," then waved her hand to Dora, "this Auror is my daughter Nymphadora Black-Tonks…"

"Mom!"

Andy smirked at Dora's outrage, "And this is…"

"Lilith Black, Madam Roberts," Jamie said quietly, shocking both Andy and Dora by the sudden name change.

"Sis?" Dora asked.

"White… bearded… wanker…" the newly rechristened Lilith replied quietly, holding up a finger for each word.

Dora nodded in understanding.

"I sense a story there… but anyways," Ms. Roberts began as she led the three Brits about the ninety acre main campus, highlighting various activities, clubs, and electives that were available to the students, the Equestrian Studies classes really peaked Lilith's interest; and while there was flying clubs available, they didn't have Quidditch, which suited her just fine.

Unlike Hogwarts, the students were not divided up into houses for classes, but the three dorms on campus did have a bit of a friendly rivalry between them about a wide variety of things. The uniforms were fairly casual, almost no one wore robes, but the formal skirts were a bit of a problem for Lilith.

"Madam Roberts, would I be required to wear that tartan?"

"Tartan?"

"The Wallace Clan's red, black, and yellow tartan that is displayed on the formal skirts?"

"Not sure what Wallace Clan means, but that is the official uniform. Why?"

"Would you have a Cherokee Chief dress as an Apache Chief?"

"There's a difference?" Ms. Roberts asked with a bewildered look.

Lilith sighed, "Yes, there's a difference. I would need to wear Clan Dunn's blue, black, and red tartan. It would be inappropriate for me to ware another clan's tartan… even though I think we were allied."

"Why's that?"

"I'm the Chieftess."

"Oh… ah… I'd have to check with Principle Morehouse. Don't reckon we've had that issue 'round here before."

They had lunch in the 'cafeteria' and met several girls who would be in Lilith's classes, and everyone seemed open and friendly to the foreign witches in their midst, and highly amused by Dora's Metamorphmagus antics during the meal and a feeling akin to contentment slowly leaked its' way into Lilith's voice.

As they left, later that day, Lilith told Andy that, pending dress code issues, she would indeed like to attend this Academy, but still wanted to check out Antipodean in Australia before making the decision final.

After another international portkey, Jamie spent the evening of Easter Sunday at home being questioned by Andy and Dora about 'Lilith Black.'

* * *

Having sealed the Wards of Hogwarts to prevent the Potter brat from escaping, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore made his way to the lonely and remote spire called Nurmengard. In the top most cell, in an obsidian throne draped in golden chains and looking out a small, North facing window, sat the only occupant of this ancient looking, black structure.

"Hello love!" Dumbledore greeted the nearly identical man gaily.

"You should stop this, they will find out eventually."

"Oh, I doubt that very much, love. The enchantments here are working flawlessly. It's already been nearly fifty years you know."

"You really shouldn't have strayed so far from the path."

"You really shouldn't have taken my favorite play toy from me. But I think I could forgive you if you swore to serve me again."

"Let me go you bastard. How could you ever think I'd support you after I found out about my sister?"

"Ariana made such _interesting_ noises for me. It was all for the Greater Good, you know," Albus said in a patronizing tone, "surely you remember the oaths we swore to achieve that?"

"You are an evil man," the chained man glared at the unchained one, "There is no way you are working towards the Greater Good."

"Oh but I am! I am… and I've nearly got it all set. Just over a year from now, young Tom will rejoin us and I'll finally be rid of that annoying Potter brat," he said with a scowl.

"I won't help you."

"Oh, but you already are, love. You already are!"

* * *

When Jamie got back to Hogwarts, her depression slammed back down on her like a ton of bricks. She really did not want to be anywhere near the castle any more, or even England for that matter, the pain and betrayal caused by those within made her want to run away.

There were only nine weeks left of the year.

Nine more weeks of this torment.

Nine weeks and she would be free.

Jamie could hold out for nine more weeks; she'd had to endure such heavy hardships before, and she had a few things she needed to take care of still.

Finding Neville reading in the common room, Jamie decided to take care of the Betrothal Agreement first. Gently patting him on the shoulder to get his attention and motioning for him to follow her up to the third year boy's dorm room; curious as ever, Hermione followed. Jamie sat on Neville's bed and glared at Hermione for a moment when the other girl entered, then shrugged it off and patted the bed for Neville to sit beside her.

"What is it Jamie?" Neville asked somewhat nervously.

Jamie handed the boy the document she wanted to discuss.

Quickly looking it over, Neville was startled, "This is… Jamie?"

"What is it Neville?" Hermione asked.

"It's a Betrothal Agreement between Jamie and me; but I didn't know… when was this?" Neville riffled through the document, "We weren't even a week old!"

"A Betrothal Agreement… like a contract? I didn't think those were used anymore." Hermione said shaking her head.

Neville turned to Hermione, "It will be a Contract when it goes into effect, until then it's only an agreement. When you're part of one of the Ancient Houses, especially the Noble ones, these kinds of things are actually rather common still. Gran set one up for me with Hannah when we were five."

"So you now have two contracts for marriage?"

"Maybe three with this one; I think Gran was hinting about another over the Christmas Hols."

"And you're okay with that?" Hermione sounded offended.

Neville shrugged, "There's reasons."

"'Mione… we talked about this." Jamie said quietly.

"Yeah, yeah… sexist society… it's just…"

"Not something you expected to see firsthand?" Neville asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"Let's see…" Neville started reading again, "Houses kept separate… that's good, keeps any Heirs from fighting too much… political independence… also good, allows us to disagree on things… an Heir for each House, that's not too bad… what?"

Jamie interrupted him, "I'm not a broodmare."

"What do you mean?" Neville looked concerned.

"How many Houses do you have Neville? Jamie has seven."

"Ten." Jamie clarified.

"Ten?" Hermione asked, "Potter, Peverell, Black, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Monroe, and Gaunt… what are the others?"

"Le Fay, Bell and White… I'm also Regent Ravenclaw and Chieftess of Clan Dunn, but I don't know what I have to do for those yet."

"I've got Longbottom, Blake and Reeves, but need to take an inheritance test to confirm everything." Neville shook his head, "I was just thinking of Longbottom and Potter… Sorry Jamie."

"We need to cancel this. I'll probably have to pair up the Houses for my Heirs. I don't see me having as many kids as the Weasleys, let alone twice as many."

"Okay then… cancellation penalties… ah… so that's why you brought this to me."

Hermione couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"Mutual agreement to cancel the betrothal resulting in no penalties for either House… just has to be signed and witnessed."

"McGonagall?"

Neville nodded, "Probably for the best."

* * *

Draco was annoyed. His parents had spent the better part of the weekend at Gringott's trying to find out what had happened; their manor had been seized and, though his father wouldn't mention it outright, most of their money as well.

The pampered 'Prince of Slytherin' tried to maintain his normal blustering behavior, but the so called 'Ice Queen' had no problems seeing through his act, and dutifully reported on the downfall of House Malfoy to her father.

 _ **-Author's Notes-**_

For those that failed to realize it (UPSET GUEST among you) Sirius did _not_ get a trial last chapter… Dumbledore, Fudge, and Umbridge made sure of that before Bones could call for the trial to begin, thus temporarily remove certain persons from power, and call on someone to bring Jamie to the courtroom, thereby forcing Dumbledore to allow such an action to take place (remember the note Jamie sent with Hedwig even though she couldn't go to the Owlery?). The trial wasn't the only thing the Wizengamot was meeting for, so Dumbledore's presence is appropriate as Chief Warlock… just because you don't like what happened, doesn't mean that you have to scream and pout about it.

The 19th of February went to HFIL in a handbasket for the Wizengamot… which is how Dumbledore managed to escape somewhat that day. The Potter Will was released in the Daily Prophet on the 20th alongside the news of the assassination of Lord Black. The plan was to ambush the Old Bastard with the Will during the trial… but he did something they failed to anticipate.

Oh… Lizard21… if you know who Ariana is, you should be able to figure out what that other passage was all about. Hopefully the one in this chapter will clear the mud up a bit.

* * *

Annie and Peggy Weasley are from Barb LP's Harry Potter and the Time of Good Intentions… a very, very well written story. Start with www fanfiction net/s/288212/1/Harry-Potter-and-the-Psychic-Serpent as I doubt you will regret reading this trilogy.

* * *

New Salem, Rusk County, TX - www txrusk com/cities/newsalem htm (add the periods back in)

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The two schools were moved to Texas about 100 years later for my story.

* * *

In case you were wondering… Jamie has 85 Account Managers (10 that she will deal with directly), but I haven't named them all yet. Their names will reflect different cultures and rival banking clans… just to have a bit of fun with… but they really aren't very important to the story.

Dunn is my mother's maiden name and is a boarder clan with Highland ties (my father's is from the Highlands), White and Bell were picked for my story and have no basis in Canon, but with the history of violence attributed to the House of Black, it stands to reason that they would have conquered at least a couple of other Houses, and I've seen the links to Le Fay in a few different stories and liked the idea… especially with the three ravens on the Black crest.

I haven't decided if Katie will be a vassal of House Black yet… if she is, I'll probably borrow Sam Bell from Barb LP as well… though he won't be much more than a mention in my story.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	26. Leaving Hogwarts

_Summery_ _–_ _The Black Nightmare! … When everyone knows he's out to get you, should you be more afraid?_

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 11**_ _ **–**_ _ **Leaving Hogwarts**_

Jamie was unsure what to do about Neville. Her father had set up a Betrothal Agreement between her and the Herbology prodigy, and they had both lost their parents within a week of each other, even if his were still technically alive. The idea of being with him, with any guy really, was not appealing to her, but it's something their fathers had set up, something that ties their families together. It's not like she didn't like Neville, he was a bit shy most of the time, but he was really rather nice. Could she be with him, despite her inclinations? Would he put up with her desires? How would such a relationship work? He's already with Hannah, and maybe another girl, should she try to feel out a relationship with one of them? Maybe she should just forget the whole thing and see what Salem has to offer.

Jamie's bed shifted as Hermione joined her, "Lavender seems to be really enjoying herself this morning."

"You know what Madam Pomfrey said 'Mione," the raven haired girl quietly replied to the bushy brunette.

"I also remember the SILENCING CHARMS she taught us," giggling a little at the squeak from the other side of the room at her loud comment.

Jamie just shook her head at the older girl.

"So you're really leaving at the end of the year?"

A simple nod was all the response the younger girl gave that question.

"I haven't told my parents much about what's happened here. I was worried they would take me away... that I'd lose my friends... lose you... and now you're leaving anyway."

"Tell them."

"I... I can't. They would be so disappointed in me for not telling them before... for not trusting them."

Jamie looked at her best friend in askance.

"Jamie..." Hermione sighed, "What good would it do now?"

The emerald green eyed girl cocked an eyebrow at the dark hazel eyed one.

"You're saying that not telling them would be worse in the long run aren't you... that I'm just compounding the problem."

Another simple nod.

"When did you get so wise?"

Jamie shrugged.

"You playing in the match today?"

The former Seeker shook her head.

"Ginny?"

Another nod.

"On your broom?"

Another shrug and nod.

"I can't wait to see Malfoy's face when he realizes that brooms matched to positions trump 'the greatest broom' of last year."

Jamie answered with an evil grin of agreement.

* * *

"Welcome everyone to the final game of the season, Gryffindor Vs Slytherin!" Lee Jordan called out from the announcer's box. "The Gryffindor team has a special surprise in store for the Slytherin team, curtesy of one Miss Jamie Potter, that will certainly be a treat for everyone here today. We'd also like to extend a very special welcome to the Scouts..."

"Jordan! You're not supposed to mention them!" Professor McGonagall said in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry Professor... too late now," repentance clearly not evident in his voice.

"Just... stick to the teams."

"Here come the Slytherins, in their drab green and silver uniforms. Captain Marcus Flint leading the way, followed by Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole, the team's Beaters, Keeper Miles Bletchley, Adrian Pucey, and Graham Montague, the Chasers, and Draco Malfoy playing as Seeker; each carrying identical Nimbus 2001 brooms provided by Lucius Malfoy, so his son could join the team."

"Jordan I'm warning you."

"I'm sticking to the teams. And now, here come the Gryffindors in their dapper crimson and gold uniforms. Lead by their Captain Oliver Wood with his new Tinderblast 92, it's the slowest broom on the field today but it'll sure get you there in a hurry, it's made by the company that produces the Firebolt by the way. Next up we have the Weasley Twins, Fred and George, each sporting Moontrimmer Excaliburs, the best broom available for Beaters. Following those three handsome lads, we have the gorgeous trio of Gryffindor Chasers, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Kathrine Bell, each wielding Cleansweep 14s, which have nearly identical statistics to the Nimbus 2000 Miss Potter used for the last two years, for those who've had the pleasure of seeing _that_ girl play."

"What are you a Broom Salesman?" the professor asked incredulously.

"And last, but certainly not least, we have pretty, young Ginevra Weasley, with a lovely Silver Arrow 4... wait... what's Miss Potter doing? Oh, it appears that Jamie Potter is swapping brooms with Ginny Weasley. So then, we'll have Miss Weasley on Miss Potter's Quicksilver, which might be a touch slower on distance runs but, for the quick turns and hijinks of chasing a Snitch, should be more than a match for Draco's Nimbus 2001."

"Jordan..." Professor McGonagall muttered darkly.

"Captain Flint tries to crush Captain Wood's hand in what is sure to be a 'friendly manner.' Madam Rolanda Hooch has released the Snitch, and... We're OFF!"

"It's Bell, Johnson, Score! 10-0 Gryffindor. Now Montague passes to Flint, to _Spinnet_ , Johnson, Spinnet, Bell, Score! 20-0 Gryffindor, those birds are flying circles around the Slytherin slugs."

Over the next hour and a half, despite all the blatant attempts to hurt the Gryffindors by the Slytherins, more often than not resulting in injuries to themselves, the team in green only managed to score once on a trumped up penalty against the Gryffindor Keeper, resulting in a massive 730-10 loss of the Snakes to the Lions, the worst defeat in the school's history.

* * *

On Thursday the 26th of May, Jamie went to her last Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the year in a more pensive mood than normal. Some of the Ravenclaws had pieced together Snape's clues and figured out that Professor Lupin was a werewolf, just as Hermione had before the Christmas Hols, and the stupid parents of the idiots in the school decided that the 'awesome' defense instructor had to go 'for the safety of the students.' She liked the man and was disappointed that her friends would lose such a valuable educational resource and hoped that he would at least provide a few good suggestions to help further her studies.

Ron and Hermione were still fighting about Crookshanks and the disappearance of Scabbers, despite the hundreds of cats in the castle and complete lack of evidence, other than a missing rat. Hermione was a bit cranky since Professor McGonagall had required them to turn in the Time Turner on the 22nd, so that the two girls hadn't been able to attend every class the last week of term as they had been all year, not that anyone else noticed the difference outside of Runes and Arithmancy.

Professors Morgan and Babbling judged the final Runes projects and awarded Megan, Daphne and Jamie an Outstanding for the depth of research used in their presentation. Professor Vector was also impressed and awarded the three girls bonus points for the Arithmantic breakdowns they used for the various spells they used, allowing Daphne to just barely edge out Hermione for the top ranking for Arithmancy, much to the bookworm's chagrin, while Jamie came in 5th.

As for her other classes; Professors Flitwick and McGonagall also awarded her Outstandings, for Charms and Transfigurations respectively, while she received an Exceeds Expectations in Herbology from Professor Sprout, thanks to Neville, and Acceptables for History and Astronomy from Professors Binns and Sinistra. Snape was still a bastard, giving Jamie a Poor rating for Potions, but she knew that a simple qualifications exam at Salem would likely allow her to continue the course without remediation. 'Professor' Hagrid was so depressed over Buckbeak's trial and execution that they had only studied class one and two X creatures the entire year, so Jamie would have to basically start over in that class if she was going to continue 'Auditing' the class at Salem. Overall, she felt she was fairly well prepared for 'Lilith' to start at her new school next year.

The most surprising thing of the year, however, came on June 4th during the trip 'home' on the Hogwarts Express, when Heiress Greengrass, claiming to have lost a bet with Miss Davis, walked into Jamie and Hermione's cabin and proceeded to thoroughly kiss the young raven haired witch senseless.

* * *

The first few weeks of Summer Break, Jamie returned to the Royal Academy of Dance for a few refreshers and ideas on how to improve while in America. Madam Dunn was less than pleased at how little Jamie had been dancing since the death of her godfather, but did understand the reasoning; she also greeted her student as her Chieftess, stopping the young witch from removing the armlet and rings at the start of the first session, though she cut Jamie no slack for being the leader of her clan. It was shocking to learn her dance instructor was a Squib, and Madam Dunn recommended that Jamie contact Madam Engelhart of the Shreveport Metropolitan Dance Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana, which is about a hundred miles from Salem Witches' Academy; another witch and one of Madam Dunn's favorite students.

By the end of June, Jamie purchased a small house in the Wizarding Community of Lizard's Run just North of SWA under the name of Lilith Black to get the 'resident' discounts available to 'local' students, as well as an Efficiency Studio apartment in University Court Apartments, about three miles from the Dance Academy, for the next two months while her new house was being worked on.

Dora spent July with Lilith, taking a month off after graduating the Auror Academy, helping her younger 'sister' get accustomed to being called by the new name, as well as exploring the area and getting to know some of the local wildlife safely.

* * *

Dumbledore was livid. The Potter brat had disappeared and no one would tell him where the child had gone. He refused to let his plans be sidetracked or compromised by the wayward little nuisance. He had to figure out a way to get the special event they were working on to be moved to Hogwarts; that would make things so much easier to ensure Tom's return and the demise of the hated Potterling.

Maybe it was time to arrange an 'accident' for that Mudblood Law-Wizard and the Blood-Traitor Mediwitch… then he could force through a petition for Guardianship. "Potter will be mine!"

-Author's Notes-

I have to thank kuroneko200 for letting me bounce a few ideas around… it's always have to have feedback.

For those curious or perhaps offended by what Lavender is doing at the start of this chapter by enjoying herself... what does it say that she is actually doing? You might want to stop for a moment and consider your own stances on some issues if you are reading what isn't written, even if it is implied. The rating is T for Teen... not M for Mature... for a reason, the topics will be things that Teens will know of (or need to know of) without going overboard or too in-depth. I also prefer to stoke imaginations and curiosities so people will go research some of the things I write about and learn something.

There's no Marauder's Map in this story (yet)... even though I like the thing it would unnecessarily complicate a few things I have planned.

I did kind of end year 3 rather abruptly… I may expand on it a bit later but it seemed to be dragging on for no real reason to me. This is definitely AU at this point if you can't tell… but I hope some of what I have planned will be a bit unique for you all to read.

And so… we've reached Year 4 – Tournament Troubles…

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	27. Dancing With Dora

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 1**_ _ **–**_ _ **Dancing with Dora**_

Hermione Granger looked at the two Slytherin girls she was out shopping with and wondered to herself again just why she had agreed to join them for a Quidditch game at the end of the summer. Tracey Davis was obsessed with the sport, nearly as much as Ronald Weasley, but Daphne Greengrass looked nearly as bored with the topic as Hermione felt. The dentists' daughter always craved friendship, but could she truly accept these two? She got along with them fairly well in class, but she didn't think the social groups these two girls hung out in would accept her at all. If Jamie Potter were here, sure… but her best friend disappeared not long after school let out for the summer, and that kiss Daphne laid on the green eyed girl on the Hogwarts Express… Hermione had a hard time accepting that was merely because of a lost bet. Did the pretty, blonde Slytherin have a thing for the Girl-Who-Lived? That could be interesting. Too bad Jamie was planning to move away before next year.

* * *

Lilith flew through the air, landing with a hard 'thud' and a knife at her throat.

"And… Dead!" Dora commented mildly for the third time in half an hour.

"Sorry, got distracted."

"I noticed… again."

"Why are you in just a tank top and nickers anyway?"

"Trying to teach you to avoid or ignore distractions in a fight."

"Right."

"I could do this…" Lilith suddenly slapped Dora when the Metamorph shifted into Hermione.

"Never do that again." Lilith said angrily, "There's nothing between Hermione and me but friendship. I considered asking you if you wanted to do anything, but after that…"

"What?"

"If we had a chance to be anything, I'd want to be with YOU… not someone you're pretending to be."

"I'm six years older than you, Lils. You should look at those closer to your age."

"Really Dora… six years? I hadn't noticed. You can't really say I'm normal for my age either."

Dora shook her head, reverting to her normal, pink haired look, "Come on… target practice."

Lilith climbed to her feet and started flinging conjured daggers at the targets on the far wall.

"Hold your wrist a little stiffer and your fingers a little looser. How is working at that animal hospital working out for you?"

"What? Towne South? It's great. Mrs. McFadden won't let me handle any of the medications, and I don't really like mucking the cages… some of it reminds me of the Dursleys too much, but working with the cats, dogs, and rabbits is really awesome; ferrets are fun too. I think I freaked them out a little Sunday when that guy brought a python in, the hospital isn't set up for reptiles or birds, but Mrs. McFadden was impressed that I could help Mr. Gordon understand what was wrong with his snake. I spoke Parseltongue by accident, but I think I covered it okay… 'you just have to speak their language, right?'… it's not like they believed I was actually talking to the snake."

"So…" Dora said, considering the legalities of what Lilith had just revealed, "do you think you want to pursue a career working with creatures in the future?"

"Maybe…" Lilith said with a shrug before throwing another dagger, "magical creatures will probably be a lot different. Professor Hagrid wasn't very successful teaching Care of Magical Creatures last year. If I were older, Mrs. McFadden said she would have offered me a paid position for next summer, but I'd have to be at least sixteen first. I do like working there though, so maybe… I might even look at staying with just the mundane animals too."

"And Madam Engelhart?"

"Not near as fun as Madam Dunn. I still like the dancing and learning new styles… but she keeps complaining that I don't present myself properly for a Lady of my station, and keeps harping on about how the angle of my neck is wrong or how my feet are not positioned exactly right when sitting. If it weren't for the fact that she's a witch and I don't have to hide magic from her, I'd probably see if Ms. Meiki had a different instructor I could work with."

"Why me?" Dora asked looking away.

Startled, the dagger Lilith threw bounced off the target instead of sticking like the others, "Hunh?"

"Why me? I know about Hermione, but… why?"

"Because you're you." Dora looked skeptical, "You can look however you want on the outside, but your heart is always the same. Your loyalty and honor dictate your actions, your cunning and courage see them through, and your intelligence lets you find and understand the clues to solve crimes. You could be in any of the houses at Hogwarts, and you chose the one that's most like a family… something I desperately wished for for years. The Hat considered the other houses for me too, and wanted to put me in Slytherin, but put me in Gryffindor because of what had been done to me. If I had known more about them, maybe I would have asked for Hufflepuff, but then so many things would have been different."

"What do you mean?"

"Like that Troll on Halloween in first year, I wouldn't have been as close to Hermione and probably wouldn't have saved her. She'd have died that night. That means she wouldn't have been there to help me with that stuff at the end of the year and Tommy boy would have likely achieved his goals," Lilith said vaguely, not wanting to reveal too much about the Stone. "She wouldn't have been there to research Slytherin's Monster, so we wouldn't have known it was a Basilisk… so someone would have died and the school would have been closed. I'd have never been able to figure out that Sirius was innocent, although he might still be alive in that case..." she trailed off, crying quietly for her lost godfather.

Dora hugged Lilith as the younger girl, "So different because of one little change."

Lilith looked up and kissed Dora, "think about it."

Dora just shook her head.

* * *

The Quidditch World Cup was actually rather amusing to Hermione; not for the gameplay, though Ireland winning despite Bulgaria catching the Snitch was a highlight for the bookworm. Hermione had fun watching the crowds.

"I don't believe these people," the bushy brunette muttered to her two companions.

The redhead looked back at her, "What do you not believe now Granger?"

"Look around you Davis, how many violations of the Statute of Secrecy can you count?"

"Um… zero?"

"How about you Greengrass?"

"Oh no… don't pull me into this," the blond denied.

"You're already in this since you brought us here and we're staying with you."

"Hrumph… I can send you home too."

"Right… so… um… how much is the average fine for violating the Statute… and is it per instance or per violation?"

"I think it's something like a hundred Galleons per violation. Why? What are you getting at Granger?"

"Well I already know Davis here is as blind as everyone else, but I was just thinking of a way to probably quintuple the GNP for the year."

"GNP?" Daphne asked.

"I AM NOT BLIND!"

"Gross National Product… governmental revenue… and I'll prove your blindness in a minute Davis, just be patient."

"What are you girls up to out here?" Lord Greengrass asked poking his head out of the tent.

"I was just asking your daughter if violations of the Statute of Secrecy were per instance or per violation, and how much the fine is?"

"It starts at a hundred galleons per violation, but if the violation is severe enough it can carry a prison sentence, why?" He asked stepping out to join them.

"Miss Granger called me 'blind' for not seeing what she sees and said something about quintupleing the GNQ or something."

"That sentence is a violation… though most Muggles would just think you're stupid instead of magical."

"WHAT?!" Tracey yelled impersonating a Weasley rather well while Lord Greengrass looked amused.

"Let me explain then," Hermione stated calmly. "Witches and Wizards have little to no understanding of Muggles. Not knowing or understanding the terms used in everyday Muggle life is bad enough to mark you as different, and the older you are the worse the difference is. Not knowing how to dress yourself is another glaring example of how Witches and Wizards _draw attention_ from Muggles rather than deflect it. For instance," Hermione said, pointing to a portly man wondering through the camp in a lady's night shirt, "his outfit… if you can call it that… is for a _woman_ to wear in her bedroom at night, not in public. Muggles would likely think him crazy instead of magical, but they would _definitely_ pay attention to him."

"Those are not 'violations' of the Statute of Secrecy, but I can see how those things could lead to violations," Lord Greengrass said rubbing his chin in thought.

"I agree. So, let's look at a few _actual_ violations of the Statute then… starting with your tent, Lord Greengrass."

"This can't be good," Daphne muttered.

"It's good that you are not 'showing off' for the others around here… like those three flying about on brooms and spraying sparklers everywhere in what is known as a Muggle area… but no Muggle tent will have stained-glass picture windows that move, brick chimneys, or multiple floors. Don't get me wrong, Muggles do have some… _interesting_ tents available, so the general appearance of something like that 'Rook' over there might actually pass for something Muggle… if it didn't have the rest of that stuff going on… is that a… no, never mind… back to the topic."

"I see. So I would have a fine of three-hundred galleons for my tent then."

"Actually more, but that's just what I can see from where I am standing… luckily, the inside is 'hidden' from view."

"Ah…" Lord Greengrass uttered looking a little frightened by the revelation.

"Now Miss Davis… take another look around and tell me how many violations of the Statute you see."

"Um… a lot…?" the red-head said with a puzzled look not really knowing what to look for.

Hermione nodded, "And Miss Greengrass how much revenue would that bring in?"

"I have no idea," the blond said quietly shaking her head with understanding.

"Why are you telling us this Miss Granger? You could use this as leverage for a future career in the Ministry."

Hermione shook her head, "Not as things are now, I couldn't. I'm Muggleborn. Your daughter and Miss Davis have been teaching me about the prejudicial nonsense that are the rules and laws of the Wizarding world. Right now… if I really want to get anything done, I have to go through your daughter… or perhaps you, Lord Greengrass. I have no voice, and little to no presence, in our society. That needs to change."

"I see. Perhaps we should discuss this more after the game, the elves should have dinner about ready and we will need to head out to the stadium not long after."

"I look forward to that sir."

* * *

Ms. Raynes lead the girls in her Equestrian Studies class through the trails the last weekend of August, while quizzing them on various aspects of horse anatomy. Lilith Black was enjoying the ride immensely, the roan colt between her legs was feisty, he wanted to run but obeyed her every command. It wasn't like flying, but it was very relaxing, even with the barrage of questions heading at the mixed class of third through fifth year students. That was something very different from Hogwarts. If you qualify for an elective class, not just pick it but actually test into one, then you study with the other students in either the OWL or NEWT classes, regardless of your year group for general studies classes.

"Miss Raven, why do you need to… Miss Raven?" Ms. Raynes asked wondering why the purple haired Navajo girl stopped following the group.

"Nizhoni says we are being followed," she answered watching the falcon flying overhead.

A large white owl burst through the trees and landed on Lilith's arm, "Seems Hedwig agrees with my twin."

The Navajo girl grinned at the English witch for their little joke, since they were born on the same day, "Perhaps we should turn back Ms. Raynes, it must be important if it can not wait until after class."

"Perhaps you are right," Ms. Raynes nodded and waved for everyone to turn about, "Alright girls, back to the range. We'll work on target practice for the rest of the day."

"Can we do Archery too Ms. Raynes?"

"Yes, Miss Frost… but I want you to use your wand for at least two out of three attacks down range. Magically empowering your arrows doesn't count."

Lilith pulled alongside Amelia, "I have a feeling whatever this is about involves me somehow."

"Why do you say that Miss Black," Ms. Raynes asked from nearby.

"Hedwig wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Your warrior is wise Lilith, you should listen to her."

Lilith chuckled, "I do Amelia… she beats me up if I don't."

"Let's go ladies… the only way to find out for sure is to meet with our pursuer."

"You know, Ms. Raynes, those being 'pursued' usually don't want to meet with their pursuers. It's a tactical disadvantage you know."

A few minutes later Vice Principle Spalding yelled for Lilith to come see her as the raven haired girl had predicted. When Lilith was close enough, she dismounted and lead her mount over to the irritated woman.

"I don't know what this is about, but an 'Auror Tonks' firecalled a little while ago and demanded that we give you this," she flourished a copy of the Daily Prophet, "immediately. Care to enlighten me as to why a police officer wants you to know about some rubbish happening halfway around the world, Miss Black?"

"My cousin probably could have been more polite about it, but she's concerned."

The woman's voice dropped to an angry tone, "What do you mean?"

"It would appear that the group who's leader murdered my parents has become active again… that or at least a few of their old members want the group to be," Lilith sighed, "she wants me to be on alert just in case they manage to track me down."

"What kind of threat are we talking about here?" Spalding asked, no longer angry at the situation but concerned for her students.

"They are murderers, the whole lot of them… but they will be looking for me in England under a different name that only the Principle knows here… and only three people there know that I'm here… all sworn to secrecy. I doubt there is much need for concern here right now, but we will want to make sure the Wards are up to full power… and we should probably pass that warning on to SWI as well. They might look for me there if they come to Salem."

"Why would they look for you with the boys?"

"Because… from the age of fifteen months to about two weeks shy of my twelfth birthday, I was male. I don't really want to talk about that, and I have my suspicions as to who caused that condition but no reliable proof or reason as to why… so I'll not share those with you yet either."

"That… actually explains a few things about you. Anything else?"

"Just that I hate Halloween… and something bad usually happens to me on that day every year."

Spalding sighed, "I'll let Principle Morehouse know and send your concerns to Principle Jamerson as well. Go on back to class."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

An old gnarled man sat in his office within the magical castle in Northern Scotland that housed the school of magic known as Hogwarts, grumbling in anger. The girl his Master wanted was not among the students here, but fortunately the bumbling headmaster brought an elegant solution to his problem in the form of an ancient, soul-binding artifact.

Soon, the girl would be here.

Soon, his Master will rise again.

Soon, the World will tremble in fear once more.

And the 'Light" won't be able to stop the coming darkness.

* * *

Lilith and Dora decided against trying to make a closer relationship work, at least for a while. It wasn't that they didn't care deeply for one another, but being on two separate continents put a big damper on communications and they both agreed to at least consider others and delay anything more between them until Lilith was out of school. Not that Lilith really wanted to agree, but she could accept the sensibility of the proposal.

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore stood at the front of the Great Hall of Hogwarts for the second night in a row. The Friday evening 'Welcome Feast' for the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had ended with his presentation of the Goblet of Fire where, before the entire assembled crowd, he 'demonstrated' how they had to simply drop their name and school into the cup for tonight's choosing. It amused him no end that no one questioned his actions.

The blue-white flames in the Goblet suddenly turned an angry red and began spitting purple and gold sparks before a piece of parchment was spat out to gently float down to the headmaster's waiting hands, the flames shifting back to their original color.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons is… Fleur Delacour!" Everyone clapped politely though the rest of the Beauxbatons delegation looked disappointed as they watched the blonde Veela practically float out of the hall.

The flames shifted to their angry red state again, this time throwing off red and green sparks before ejecting a piece of parchment.

"The Champion for Durmstrang is… Viktor Krum!" The professional Seeker received much more applause as he followed the French girl out of the Hall.

The third shift of the flames to their angry red state produced a variety of sparks in green, yellow, red, and blue.

"The Champion for Hogwarts is… Cedric Diggory!"

The applause for their own Champion was nearly deafening as he blushed and followed the other Champions from the Hall.

"Excellent, excellent… now we have our three Champions. I hope I can expect you all to support their effort…"

The flames turned an angry red and started spitting silver sparks before tossing out a fourth parchment. Trying to mask his glee with a look of grave concern, Dumbledore read out the next name, off of what appeared to be a fragment of a homework assignment, to an utterly silent Hall, "Jamie Potter."

"It can't be, she's not even in Britton!" Minerva McGonagall shouted from her seat at the head table.

"What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" Madam Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons demanded.

Then the unthinkable occurred and the flames turned red for a fifth time spitting black and red sparks as it threw out another parchment before the flames died out completely.

"Who's name is on that one?" some of the nearby students asked.

"I'd rather like to know that myself," Highmaster Karkaroff of Durmstrang asked.

Looking on the parchment in shock he was actually feeling, he cleared his throat and read, "Harriett Potter…"

-Author's Notes-

I know Shreveport Dance Academy (owner Kendra Meiki) was founded in 1999… therefore didn't exist in 1994… call it creative license. Conversely Towne South Animal Hospital was founded in 1974 and purchased by Kathryn McFadden in 1991. Sometimes it takes a while to find old information.

It was another twenty years before a two-story pop-up tent was created, so Hermione's statement to Lord Greengrass in 1994 would be accurate.

I'm going to borrow something from The Accidental Bond by kb0 (www fanfiction net/s/5604382/32/The-Accidental-Bond) sometime during the coming year, but use it in a very different way.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	28. Lilith Goes to Hogwarts

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 2**_ _ **–**_ _ **Lilith Goes to Hogwarts**_

The Great Hall had erupted in chaos as people heard that Jamie Potter's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire not once, but twice! Questions flurried through all the students present about how a girl who wasn't even in the country could have entered the Tournament, and how she could compete at two contestants. Somehow everyone assumed that someone was already summoning the former student back to Hogwarts, but it was Friday evening, shortly before dinner, nearly three weeks later when Professor McGonagall contacted Healer Andromeda Tonks about why Jamie hadn't arrived back at Hogwarts to prepare for the First Task scheduled for the next Thursday afternoon.

Andy was livid as she cut off Minnie, then firecalled Principle Morehouse at Salem Witches Academy to inform them of what had happened and request her Ward be sent home for this idiotic tournament.

* * *

Lilith Black was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with her new friends next week, having heaved a huge sigh of relief that nothing bad had seemed to happen on Halloween this year. Then Vice Principle Spalding arrived to interrupt Ms. Tula's late morning Charms class requesting that 'Ms. Black' accompany her to the Principal's office.

"What do you know about how this happened?" Lilith heard Principle Morehouse ask as she stepped into the woman's office.

Then Lilith heard her 'mum's' voice and realized something big was happening, "I really don't know any more than you do at this point. My husband is scouring the Prophet for what little information that was made available to the public, but it's like the whole thing ceased to exist on Halloween… big lead up to the selection of the Champions… then nothing."

"Wonderful! So what can you tell me about this thing?"

'Halloween…' Lilith thought, 'Why is it always Halloween?'

Some rather indistinct muttering could be heard in the background, probably someone in the background on the other side of a Floo call.

"Supposedly there is to be three schools each with one Champion to compete for a thousand Galleons and 'eternal glory.' The Headmaster/mistress of each school is a judge, or designates a proxy, along with someone from Magical Games and Sports and another from International Cooperation. So I guess that means you'll need to send someone along to judge this thing too. Argh! How can they get away with this?"

"So not only does Ms. Black have to attend this, but I have to send one of the teachers as well."

Lilith muttered, "Great… so how did I get involved all of the sudden?"

"Actually is says 'delegation from each school,' so more than just Lilith and a judge," Lilith heard her 'dad' say fairly clearly.

Principle Morehouse sighed and looked at Vice Principle Spalding, "Who do we have clearance for already?"

"Hmm… Ms. Ahyeh could go, she is an international student… Ms. MacKenzie could take over her duties here. We should probably stick to the international students anyway. So… Moordeb, Grace, and Frost?"

"Amara's parents won't want her to go. She might be from Australia but she lives in Oklahoma now." Lilith said, not fully understanding what they were talking about, "Could you tell me what's going on please?"

"Do you think three students and two teachers is enough to satisfy the 'delegation' requirement for this Tournament, Mrs. Tonks-Black?" Principle Morehouse asked, looking into her fireplace.

"I'll have to check with Professor McGonagall… I hope so… but you should probably check with their parents anyway just to be safe. Give me twenty minutes and I'll call you back. I'll try to get a copy of the rules for this thing."

"Alright… yeah… we probably should. Beth, please contact Ms. Ahyeh, Ms. Moordeb, and Ms. Frost's parents to request permission for their daughters to study in Scotland for… cultural studies."

"What if I don't want to go back to Hogwarts?" Lilith asked since everyone seemed to be ignoring her.

"Figured that out have you?" VP Spaulding asked, looking at Lilith sadly, "Unfortunately you will have to. There's some kind of magical contract involved. That usually means loss of your magic… or even your life… if you fail to uphold your end of the contract.

"Great… no choice as usual… why does my life always have to suck?"

"What do you mean, and just what gave it away anyway?" Principle Morehouse queried.

"Halloween… never a good day for me… Professor McGonagall… that means Hogwarts is involved… and permissions to study in Scotland… that means going to Hogwarts rather than just somewhere that people from Hogwarts are at." Lilith sighed, "Could you check for Amelia Raven as well? I'd like to show her Hogwarts, even if I don't want to go there myself."

"Any other reason you want to include Ms. Raven?"

"Numbers… myself, four other students, and two teachers… that is a party of seven. A perfect number really, magically powerful."

"You make a good point. Any objections to that Jenni?"

"Just make sure she has the proper forms, shouldn't be an issue otherwise," Mrs. Morehouse said as Mrs. Spaulding bustled off to contact the parents of the four students.

* * *

"I can't give you what I don't have Dromeda! You don't need to keep yelling at me."

"What do you mean you don't have the rules for this… this… utter stupidity! How can you not have the rules for this 'Tri-Wizard Tournament' when it's being held at YOUR SCHOOL Min?!"

"Albus, Ludo, and Barty said they had it all worked out…"

"Well obviously SOMEONE screwed up at least once already, how many more 'mistakes' have been included in this thing? And if no one knows the damn rules, how will anyone… especially the 'Champions'… know how NOT to break them?! Get me those rules Min. My husband is already working on the legal case against the idiots that organized this thing."

"I'll ask Albus for them again."

"Damn it Min… DON'T ASK! Get them."

"Fine, fine… I'll see what I can do… Bagman would probably be easier to force them out of anyway."

* * *

Lilith was rubbing her forehead as Zri, Amelia, Sarah and Anavrin stepped into the classroom across from the Principle's Office.

"Anyone know what's going on?" Anavrin asked, pulling her strawberry blond hair up into a ponytail.

Lilith sighed, "Do you think your parents would let you go on a trip with this school overseas?"

"W-what?" Zri stammered.

"Well?"

"Probably," Anavrin replied while Sarah nodded.

Amelia cocked her head to the side, "if it's for school."

"Zri?" Lilith asked the six foot Latina.

"Really doesn't matter to them Lils… I'm an adult. What are you asking about?"

"Seems some… _idiot_ … entered me into a tournament in Scotland and I have to participate or lose my magic… and probably my life. Problem is my 'school' needs a 'delegation' as well, so they're asking for you four to 'volunteer' for this 'excursion'." Lilith said trying to emphasize her displeasure with this whole affair. "You'll get to check out Hogwarts and Hogsmeade; see just how pathetic my old school is, and meet a few of my other friends. Everyone interested?" Nods all around answered her, "okay then. A few words of warning… One: Don't trust the Headmaster. I don't know what that bastard is after, but I'd bet he played a pretty large role in getting me into this tournament. He can't stop himself from screwing with my life. Two: Don't trust the Potions Master. I have no idea why, but Snape hates anyone not in Slytherin, anyone associated with me, and me in particular… don't be surprised if you get attacked from behind by the jerks in the Snake Den. There are a few good Slytherins, but not many… I'll introduce you to them if you want. Three: Be wary of the Grounds Keeper and Magizoology teacher. Hagrid's very nice, but he does not understand how his cute and cuddly pets are dangerous to everyone else at the school."

"Anyone other teachers?" Amelia asked with a laugh.

"Let's see… the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher changes every year, the first was possessed, the second clueless about anything but the Obliviation charm… and was rumored to have slept with quite a few of the upper class girls. The third was a werewolf, but he was a really good teacher. So, I'd be cautious around whoever it is this year just to be safe. The Divination professor is always drunk. The History professor is dead. The Muggle Studies teacher has probably never met one. And Filch, the Caretaker, detests anyone that can use magic since he can't."

"That's what… seven teachers so far?" Sarah asked, "are there any good ones?"

"McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration… Vector, Arithmancy… Babbling, Runes… Morgan, Ancient Studies… Flitwick, Charms… Sprout, Herbology. You know… I just realized something… all of the good ones are women except for Flitwick… and he's a quarter goblin."

Anavrin perked up at that, "I bet he's got loads of cool stories to tell."

"Anything else we should know about?" Zri asked with trepidation in her voice.

"Nothing really big… but don't be surprised when people call me by another name," Lilith looked away from them with sadness written across her features.

Amelia stepped over to her and hugged her gently, "And what would they be calling my twin, besides Lilith Black?"

"They call me Jamie Potter mostly… or Harriett."

"Potter?!" Sarah exclaimed, "As in the Girl-Who-Lived?!"

Anavrin smacked her in the back of her greenish-brown hair, "Knock it off elf-girl… I doubt Lils likes fan-girls much."

Lilith sighed again, "Please don't spread that around."

Zri waved to get their attention, "Perhaps we should check with Mrs. Spaulding and then all go pack."

* * *

Andromeda Black-Tonks met the airship with Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snipe, as it docked at the top of the Astronomy Tower's upper deck late Tuesday night, two days before the First Task. Aurora Sinistra, the Astronomy professor wasn't very happy, but none of the other towers could accommodate the hundred foot dirigible emblazoned with Salem Witches' Academy's motto, "Integritas, Unitas, Virtus, Magia," repeated over and over, served as a backdrop to the school's Coat-of-Arms: a gold cauldron surrounded by green flames below while a red broom crossed with a blue wand and a purple witches' hat adorned the upper quadrants and a silver crescent moon rested at the top.

Hjørdis Viktoria Hyrenthal, the teacher for History and Social Studies, stepped off the gang-plank first to greet the 'welcoming committee,' "Andy, it's been a while. That boy still treating you right?" she asked completely ignoring the Headmaster.

"Ted's great Vik. You should drop by while you're here, I'm sure my daughter would love to meet you."

"Daughter? You mean you have more than just Lilith?"

"Actually, Lilith's not mine, I'm just her 'guardian-type person' as she calls it."

"Hey mum," Lilith said stepping up beside Ms. Hyrenthal, "Manage to snag the rules for this farce yet?"

Andy glared at the old man in the group, "Dumbledore refuses to let me have a copy."

"Harry, my boy, we need to talk." He tried to grab Lilith's shoulder to drag her away but somehow missed.

Lilith laughed, "I thought you'd try that old man," Lilith called from the top of the gang-plank as the image of her next to Ms. Hyrenthal dissolved into sparkles. "I'm NOT going anywhere with you. You can either hand over the rules for this tournament right now, or no actions I, or the delegates from my school, take throughout this farce may be declared as against the rules, because, as far as we're concerned, there are none… AND I'M A GIRL!"

Albus scowled, "It wouldn't be appropriate for a Champion to have those, Harry, as they would reveal too much of the competition. You will be told what is allowed, or not, shortly before each event."

"So then, no rules it is," Lilith returned with a smirk, "I didn't enter this tournament and couldn't care less what you think is appropriate, Albus."

"You insolent brat. You'll address him as Headmaster or Professor."

"Can it Snivellus. I'll call the old bastard whatever I like, just like the rules say I can."

"Go join the others Ms. Black. I believe it's actually after curfew here, I'll arrange for a tour for the morning."

"Perhaps you should show a _little_ respect, dear," Andy said calmly as she walked up the gang-plank.

Lilith retreated into the airship saying, "Okay mom. I'll show them _exactly_ the same amount of respect that they show me. Will that work? It's more than they deserve after all."

"Hjørdis I really must speak with Mr. Potter," Dumbledore stated determinedly.

Ms. Hyrenthal glared at the old man again, "I don't recall giving you leave to call me that Mr. Dumbledore; and there is no Mr. Potter among my students." Turning her back on him, in a sign of total disrespect relegating him to a threat of no consequence, she politely asked, "Professor McGonagall, would you perhaps care to tour the airship? I would also like to discuss a short tour of your facilities tomorrow. My Champion told me you have an interesting library available."

When Albus and Severus started towards the gang-plank to follow the two women, they stumbled through the intangible wooden ramp and nearly fell off the tower.

A very tan girl with purple hair and a falcon laughed at them and called out, "foolish boys. Only girls are allowed aboard this vessel."

* * *

Later that night Amelia found Lilith staring out over the Forbidden Forest seeing odd flashes of light in the darkness.

"Nizhoni says there are great lizards there. She is worried."

"'Great Lizards' or Dragons?"

Amelia shrugged, "Does it matter? Did they give you any ideas as to what this task involves?"

"Nope. Just some non-sense about courage in the face of the unknown."

"What will you do?"

"As much as I love magic… I'm tempted to just walk away. Guess I'll just have to wing it… as always."

"Without knowing what is coming, all I can say is play to your strengths. Use the nature of your enemies against them if you can."

"Yes oh Wise One…" Lilith said chuckling. "It's really too bad you're straight."

"Lils!"

"What… I'm just saying. You know Dora put a moratorium on our relationship. I could use some relief."

"Perhaps you could see if that blonde you told me about is still available."

"Daphne?" Lilith said cocking her head to the side, "You know… that does have possibilities."

* * *

The next morning Lilith and Amelia slipped into seats beside Daphne and Tracey in the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Morning," Lilith said quietly, filling her plate with a few things from the varied selections available.

"Jamie? Why aren't you over with the Gryffindors again?"

"I transferred out of here remember. I'm not a Gryffindor anymore. I'm not even going by Jamie anymore."

"What do you mean? Have you decided to try your original name for a while?"

"Heavens no. I detest Harriett. I've been going by Lilith Black, almost exclusively, for the last five months or so. But where are my manners; Heiress Daphne Greengrass, Miss Tracey Davis meet Miss Amelia Raven of Fort Defiance, Arizona… Amelia, Heiress Greengrass and Miss Davis."

Amelia rolled her eyes, "You just love the name of my home town don't you Lils."

"Of course." Lilith said haughtily.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Raven… but that still doesn't answer why you are over here… Lilith," Daphne said quietly.

"Oh that…" Lilith waived her hand dismissively, "I was just wondering if you were interested in expanding upon what occurred between us on the Express last June."

The Ice Queen was startled, "You mean… I… y-yes… I think I would like that."

"Okay… so… there's that…" Tracey grinned then turned to Amelia, "Nice to meet you, Miss Raven."

"You as well, Miss Davis. Perhaps we should depart and let these two figure out how to proceed. I hear you had a hand in the events of last June."

-Author's Notes-

For those that are complaining about where I put Godric's Hollow or that Hermione isn't from Crawley… put me in the direction of where either of those things are stated in CANON and I'll change them… Sorry, I do like the Fanon take on Hermione from Crawley and Harry from Wales, but that's not in Canon as far as I can find, so please stop yelling about it.

Seeing as the first task is a third of the way through the school year… I decided to just go with the relationship I've been working to build… I'll definitely expand on it more, and they will not be sleeping together (at least for a long while). Will Dora join them? Wait and see.

I had planned to put the first task in this chapter… but with a few of the alterations I've got in the works it will likely be a chapter unto itself.

The Imports

Jamie Potter/Lilith Black – July 31, 1980 Godric's Hollow, Bristol, England

Anavrin Moordeb – Half-Blood May 28, 1980 Yokota Air Base, Fussa, Tama (Western Tokyo) Japan 5'6" 140Lbs

Amelia Raven – Navaho July 31, 1980 Fort Defiance, Arizona 5'5" 100Lbs – Wildblood Purple Hair Falcon Nizhoni (Beautiful)

Sarah Evelynn Frost – 1/4 Elf December 24, 1978 Montreal, Quebec, Canada 4'11" – 5th year – loves archery

Zri Ahyeh – Saint-Élie, French Guiana, South America (~60 miles west of Kourou) 6'0" Latina – 7th year

Miranda 'Mira' Raynes – Equestrian Studies

Hjørdis Viktoria Hyrenthal – History and Social Studies (alt 0248 or 0216)

-jp-

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	29. The First Task

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 3**_ _ **–**_ _ **The First Task**_

Lilith sat next to Daphne at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall for breakfast on the 24th, trying to overcome the rampaging jitters she had concerning the first task due to start in a few hours.

Daphne squeezed her hand under the table, "Eat something… you'll need the energy."

"I know," Lilith replied despondently picking up a slice of toast, "I just…"

The blond leaned over and whispered in the raven haired girl's ear, "Do well and I might just kiss you."

"Motivation huh?" Lilith chuckled, "Sounds good to me."

Somehow, Lilith's jitters were gone, and two slices of toast, a bowl of oatmeal, and a large goblet of orange juice later she felt much better; That is until Professor McGonagall tapped her on the shoulder.

"Potter, the Champions have to come down onto the grounds now… you have to get ready for your first task," the stern older witch said in a rush.

"It's Black, Aunt Min…" Lilith replied calmly, "Actually… it's Lady Black."

"Lady Black?" The Deputy-Headmistress looked confused for a moment, "Be that as it may… it is time."

"Good luck, Lilith," Tracey said from the other side of the table.

Daphne squeezed her hand again, "remember what I said earlier."

Lilith looked over at her girlfriend, "I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore stared out benevolently at the amassed students in the Great Hall, or at least that's how he wanted everyone to think. Inside he was torn between seething at the cost of getting what he wanted done to the Potter brat, and cheering that he managed to get the other organizers to agree with him. Today will be so much FUN!

* * *

Amelia met Lilith at the front door to walk her down to the large white 'Champions' Tent' set up near the Quidditch Pitch.

The dusky skinned girl looked over at the fair skinned one, "Ready for this Lils?"

"No… but I don't really have a choice now do I?"

"You can do this," the purple haired girl replied.

"I hope so," the self-doubt evident in her voice.

"You do!" the determined fierceness of her purple eyes glaring into her pseudo-twin's green ones was startling, "Now suck it up and prove it to Daphne that she hasn't made a mistake by agreeing to your backwards proposal."

A blond witch with pastel pink, overly large, horn-rimmed glasses and acidic green robes suddenly cut between the two girls from Salem Witches' Academy, seizing Lilith's arm in a vice-like grip, "Miss Potter, Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet, eep!" The witch suddenly cut off as the glowing tip of Lilith's wand came into focus before her eyes.

"Unhand me woman, before I unhand you," the teenager stated coldly.

Flinching away, Rita continued to pester the girl, "Our readers want to know why you entered into this tournament?"

Lilith laughed softly, "They want to know _why_ I entered? How about _how_ I entered? Or perhaps even how I learned about the tournament in order to enter in the first place? The answer is rather simple… to all three… I didn't. Now buzz off."

Lilith didn't notice the somewhat frightened expression that crossed the reporter's face as she dove into the Champions' Tent to escape.

* * *

"So there's the little bint who wants to upstage us," a well-built, burly, and tall young man with chiseled features, dark hair, and bright grey eyes sneered at her as she entered into the tent. He'd probably be considered extremely handsome without the sneer, if she were at all into guys. "Finally decide to grace us with your presence Potter?"

Lilith ignored him, silently looking the other female Champion over, whispering a comment to herself on the other girl's silvery locks, "Love the hair."

Stepping belligerently in front of her, the Hufflepuff Champion continued, "I'm talking to you slag. Where do you get off forcing your way into our Tournament?"

"You wear the symbol of my House, but you certainly do not act as one who belongs in my House," Lilith said glaring up at the angry seventh year student. The two foreign contestants observing the pair of Britons quietly.

"I'm not part of your House, Potter… what the devil are you on about now?"

"Very well. I, Freyja Kathrine Sophia Hufflepuff, do hereby banish you, Cedric Amos Diggory, from the Honor of the House of Hufflepuff for failures to uphold the House's standards and conduct unbecoming a member of my House." The badger on the front of his robes, and the vibrant yellow and black markings, faded to a blank icon and dull black of an unaligned Hogwarts student's robe.

Cedric turned a nice purple shade fairly reminiscent of Vernon Dursley, "What the bloody hell! What did you do? Who's that Freyha Kathrine woman? Answer me Potter!"

"Kathrine Sophia Hufflepuff… might want to get the name right seeing as that's the name of the Freyja of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Hufflepuff… or one of my names anyway. You will need to request a resorting after the task, Mr. Diggory, as you are no longer a Hufflepuff. I can keep you out of Slytherin and Ravenclaw as well… so you might as well just accept the Gryffindor colors now… or see about transferring to another school." The Durmstrang Champion snorted and the Beauxbatons' Girl covered her mouth to suppress her own laughter.

Just then the Judges arrived to prepare them for the task.

"Ah good!" Ludo Bagman beamed, "You're all here! Gather 'round! Gather 'round!"

The Headmaster of Hogwarts looked over at Cedric and asked, "What happened to your robes, Mr. Diggory?"

"Ask Potter," the Hogwarts boy snarled back.

He then turned his twinkling blue eyes to Lilith, "Ah. Harry, my boy, I'm afraid we'll have to penalize you for attacking a fellow Champion."

Lilith simply shrugged and replied, "Ah. Albus old chap. Your senility is showing. Show me where in the rules I was given, that I am not allowed to do anything I choose to do. Besides, I'm currently registered as Lilith Alya Black… I am not, nor have I ever truly been, Harry Potter… so kindly stop calling me 'boy'… and I am certainly not 'yours' either."

Ms. Hyrenthal shook her head sadly while Mr. Crouch, Madam Maxim, and Highmaster Karkaroff looked about in confusion.

Dumbledore called over to the representative of Salem, "Hjørdis, please constrain your school's Champion to act in accordance with the Rules of the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"I'll get right on that Buzzbee… just as soon as you learn some manners and provide my Champion and I with a copy of those rules."

"Alright Champions," Bagman jumped in again before Dumbledore could respond with more than a glare, "When I draw your name out of this bag, please step forward and draw a number from the box. The numbers correspond with the… obstacles… you will need to… get past… to retrieve a Golden Egg. The Eggs contain a clue you will need for the task in March. Once you all have your numbers, we'll reveal what's in the display case over there, so you can begin to prepare your strategies."

Mr. Crouch sneered at them, "We _were_ going to have you draw the statues from the pouch directly, but with the _unexpected_ inclusion of Ms. Potter, we've had to alter the plans slightly."

"Yes… well… who's first?" Bagman reached into the bag and knocked some objects around a bit before finally drawing a small circular disk, "Mr. Viktor Krum!"

Viktor reached into the box swiftly and withdrew the number Four on a square wooden tile.

"Next we have… Ms. Jamie Potter!"

Lilith cocked her head to the side, "You know that's not my legal magical name right?"

"Just draw a number Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said in an aggrieved manner.

Lilith drew the number Two.

"Now then… Ms. Fleur Delacour!"

The French witch with the long silvery hair slipped her hand gracefully into the box and withdrew the number One tile.

"Looks like you're up first." Bagman drew the next disk rather than just telling Diggory he would have the Third slot, then he called a name none of the Champions were expecting, "Ms. Harriett Potter!"

"I've already got one."

"Well…" Bagman began, but was interrupted by Mr. Crouch.

"Your name came out of the Goblet of Fire twice, therefore you must compete twice."

"So not only do I have to compete in a tournament that supposedly, expressly forbids anyone under seventeen to enter. A tournament I knew nothing about until a week ago. I have to do twice as much work as any of the other contestants?"

"Well… yes," Bagman said nervously.

Lilith reached in an pulled another tile from the box, this one with a number Five on it, 'at least it's not back to back.'

"And that leaves Mr. Cedric Diggory with the number Three obstacle. Now if you will all follow me over here…" Bagman walked over to a display case and casually waved his wand to reveal the five magically animated statues within, "We were only going to use the Short-Snout, Fireball, and Horntail… but Ms. Potter's inclusion caused us to pull in two more from the local reserves, so we've added the Green and Black. You can keep the statue as a memento of the tournament if you like."

Fleur stepped up first and pulled out the little Welsh Green dragon statue with the number 1 on its' tiny collar. The dragon is native to Wales, and nest in higher mountains; they are a rich green color, as the name suggests, and with two spiked horns that reside on top of its head and a vertical row of tiny spikes along the spine culminating in a single pointed tip at the end.

The silvery-blue statue of the Swedish Short-Snout spit out a small, brilliant blue flame as Cedric picked it up.

Viktor's statue of the Chinese Fireball, a very unusual breed of wingless dragons, was a rich scarlet color with a fringe of golden spikes around its snub-snouted face and extremely protuberant eyes.

That just left the glossy, black number Two statue of the Hebridean Black, a very aggressive species native to the Hebrides Islands of Scotland, that can grow up to thirty feet in length, with dark with rough scales, ridges along its back, a spiked tail, and four bright purple eyes; and the ugly, dull, dark grey, number Five statue of the Hungarian Horntail, menacingly glaring at everyone with its' more lizard-like yellow eyes, bronze horns and similarly colored spikes that protrude from its long tail. Both of these dragons are considered to be the most dangerous of the various breeds in the world. Lilith was beginning to get a might bit angry.

"We'll just leave you now to prepare for your task. Remember, you all must use a different strategy, duplicating another's success will result in severe penalties. Ms. Delacour, when you hear the chime, you may head out and begin. Ms. Potter, the second chime; then Mr. Diggory, Mr. Krum, and finally Ms. Potter again."

* * *

Madam Pomfrey watched the silver haired, French witch in despair. It was rather sporting of the girl to use her Veela Allure to put the beast to sleep, but she tripped on the way to the nest waking the nesting mother up once more. If it were not for the Veela's natural defense against fire, the nurse doubted that the foreign witch would survive this task.

* * *

"How are we supposed to make sure not to use the same methods as the others if we can't even watch what they do?" Lilith grouched as she waited for the second chime, "Whatever… it's not like the points matter to me anyway."

The chime sounded.

"Okay, Lils… get the Egg… don't get Dead… simple really," she stepped out of the tent.

Lilith could see why Hagrid loved these creatures, if it weren't so aggressive, she would certainly love to have one as a companion… the statue really didn't do the beautiful creature justice. The enclosure was fairly large, with boulders to shelter behind scattered about the arena. Several scorch marks told a little of the tale of Fleur's attempt at this task, but no where near enough details to determine the French witch's fate.

"I hope Mrs. Fisher enjoys watching the memory of this," Lilith smiled in what could easily be mistaken for a grimace or a grin, then started casting water charms to hyper-saturate the air in the area.

"What's she doing?" Bagman asked the other judges, ignoring the Sonorous charm still in effect on him, "Mist? What would she need mist for?" Ms. Hyrenthal was obviously humoring the overweight former Beater.

Then Lilith started casting the illusions Mrs. Fisher had taught in Charms class at the start of the year. First one, then two, then a dozen copies of Lilith spread out around the arena, ducking behind cover and greatly annoying the dragon. Lilith sent the clones in on various trajectories, swing near the dragon and away again, occasionally going near the nest where the Golden Egg resided. Whenever a clone got to close, the dragon snapped, disintegrating the illusion into billions of tiny golden sparkles, but also moving a bit. The illusions weren't really all that taxing to use, so she kept them up, constantly moving, and cast a second illusion, slowly shifting the location of the nest visually. After nearly fifteen minutes, Lilith used a Disillusionment Charm on herself, an outline of her appearing to calmly walk to the nest and collect the Egg before retreating through the exit to the arena, ending all the illusions.

"My word… she's done it," Bagman announced. "What do you mean those were fourth year spells? Surely Ms. Potter has been studying NEWT level material for this Tournament."

Lilith didn't wait to hear any more of Bagman's one-sided conversation, as she re-entered the Champions' Tent.

* * *

Daphne and Hermione had been sitting amongst their peers before Lilith's performance, now they were both sitting with Ms. Raynes and the girls from SWA asking loads of questions about illusions, since the Hogwarts curriculum, with the exception of the Disillusionment Charm during Seventh year, didn't cover them at all. Both were amazed by the fact that the spells comprising the whole art of illusions was based upon Mundane Magicians that a few First-Gen witches and wizards crafted, using the more modern terms for Muggles and Muggleborns. To the amusement of all, Professor Flitwick's attempt at stealthily eavesdropping on the explanation, did not go unnoticed.

* * *

Nearly an hour and a half later, the chime finally rang out a fifth time.

As Lilith exited the tent, Bagman's voice carried a dire warning the girl really didn't like, "Now remember folks… the Champions may not use strategies previously used. As much as we all loved Ms. Potter's inventiveness with those remarkable illusions against the Hebridean Black earlier, I, for one, am very curious what new strategy our young Champion has cooked up for the Hungarian Horntail she has to face now."

Lilith glared at the judges for a moment, then tried casting the Lumos Maxima spell from first year Charms to blind or disorient the dragon. The dragon's immediate blast of flames from nearly forty feet away ended that strategy immediately. 'Well, time for another fourth year Charm… too bad we just started learning this one…' Lilith thought to herself, "Accio Silver Arrow!"

"Looks like our little Charms Mistress wants to try 'out flying' a dragon!" Bagman's voice shouted across the arena, "She'll probably need something better than that poky Silver Arrow 4 she has to do that though," the former Quidditch star continued in a derisive manner as Lilith's broom arrived.

"So much for what you know," Lilith muttered quietly, gathering a dozen hefty stones and transfiguring them into long, slender, very sharp daggers, heavily weighted to fall point first. Mounting her broom, she swiftly ascended to over a hundred meters, only a bit higher than she used to play Seeker at. Carefully sighting the drop point, Lilith cast the second year Duro and Engorgio Charms on the blade until she could no longer hold it, letting the very durable and super heavy dagger drop onto the waiting dragon below. In the four seconds it took for the blade to impact, the second was already released, with a third being drawn and readied. The first struck the dragon's wing, rendering it unable to fly, the second hit squarely between the wings, in a weak point in the scales that allowed the musculature of the wings to allow the great creature the ability of flight, the damage was significant even before the third blade struck in almost the exact same location finally killing the dragon.

Drifting down slowly, to make sure the dragon was dead, Lilith cast a Sonorous Charm of her own, "As the Slayer of this dragon, I, Lilith Alya Black, claim it's remains by Right of Conquest in the name of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. As I say, so mote it be!" She then dove, through the bright flash of magic accepting her claim, to collected the second of her Golden Eggs before exiting the arena.

* * *

The Judges summoned the Champions back to hear the results of their efforts.

"It's time now to reveal how our Champions have done. Scoring is based on Style, Resourcefulness, Safety, and Success. Results are out of Sixty points. In order of performance, Ms. Delacour received forty-three points Vs. the Welsh Green, Ms. Potter Vs. the Hebridean Black accumulated an impressive fifty-four points, Mr. Diggory's showing against the Swedish Short-Snout netted him, forty-five points, while Mr. Krum's victory over the Chinese Fireball awarded the Hungarian Seeker forty-seven points, and Ms. Potter's deadly conquest over the Hungarian Horntail won forty points." The jeering of the crowd was impressive at this announcement. "Now since Ms. Potter has two scores, we've averaged them together to present the current standings for the Tournament. In Fourth Place is Ms. Delacour, Third Place goes to Mr. Diggory, while Mr. Krum and Ms. Potter are tied for First! Thank you all for coming!" With a quick Quietus, Bagman bailed from the Judges Stand to escape the troubled crowd.

* * *

That evening, Hermione, Daphne, and Daphne's little sister Astoria joined "The Imports," as some people at Hogwarts had taken to calling the girls from SWA, in the Airship for Thanks Giving dinner.

"What's this all about?" Astoria asked wanting information on the American Holiday.

Ms. Raynes looked the little brunette over for a moment, "Well… back when the colonies first began, the settlers had a lot of difficulties adjusting to the native soil, so their crops didn't grow as they had expected. While some of the native tribes were hostile, many initially were friendly and welcoming to the new people, as most 'Indian' cultures do not have terms for ownership of land. Seeing the new people struggling to survive, some of those natives shared their knowledge of hunting and farming with the settlers; this is often depicted as a large feast. The holiday wasn't set up until October of 1863 by then President Abraham Lincoln. So, it's about being thankful to the generosity of strangers mostly, though if anyone actually thinks about it nowadays it usually just being thankful in general."

"Aren't you and Amelia the only people from the United States here, Ms. Raynes?" Hermione asked.

"We're an American _school_ … we celebrate Thanksgiving."

"I'm thankful I didn't die today," Lilith muttered.

During the feast that followed, they went around the table, each speaking of something they were thankful for, be it friends, family, new experiences, or… in Lilith's case… simple survival. Dinner was interrupted, however, when little Colin Creevey called Jamie Potter to attend a meeting of the Champions.

* * *

Lilith woke up in Dumbledore's Office, blind folded and tied over the back of a chair. She hadn't seen whoever had stunned her, but she could feel a distinct lack of clothing and hear the Old Man talking to someone about the other's love for Lily Evans and punishing 'Potter' might help ease an itch. The next eternity made what she'd suffered at the Dursley's seem like a cake wake in comparison.

* * *

Deep in the heart of the Department of Mysteries, buried within the Ministry of Magic, hidden beneath the streets surrounding the Houses of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster in London… a large pinkish-purple crystal cracked.

-Author's Notes-

About the Dragons - https /www hp-lexicon org/creature/reptiles-and-amphibians/dragon/

I hinted at the use of illusions when the SWA Airship arrived, and a few chapters back I mentioned I was borrowing something from kb0's "The Accidental Bond" (story ID 5604382), but no one even attempted to guess what I was going to use (kind of sad about that really). If you are curious, objects dropped from height gain velocity (9.8 m/s^2), Quidditch goal hoops are 50 feet in the air (~16 meters), so Harry usually circles around the 20-25 meter mark (or a bit higher) although there is no actual altitude limit within the pitch for the game, thus a hundred meter drop (seen during the Dementor attack in Year 3 Canon) is not out of the question. Now imagine a very sharp dagger, weighted so the blade drops point first, then hit with a Year 2 Engorgement Charm so that it not only gains size but mass as well… Physics…

A 15kg (33Lbs, hard to hold in one-hand, but not impossible) object falling in free-fall (just let go not thrown down) from 100 meters, will be moving at 159.38m/s (99.05mph) upon impact, imparting 14,700 joules (10842.3 ft/Lbs or 1498.98kgfm) of force… hammering a nail is about 100 ft/Lbs of force… if Lilith dropped rocks… that would probably not knock out the dragon due to the larger surface area distributing the impact damage out (just really piss it off)… but she dropped very sharp knives with MUCH smaller area of impact and therefore much higher damage capability.

The scores were created on Roll20… 4 points (one for each of the four categories listed) plus 1d6 per judge… or 6d6+24 yielding a range of 30-60 points total. (6+5+4+5+4+6)+24= 54 & (1+1+1+5+5+3)+24=40 … simple average (54+40)/2 = 47 … I could have been mean and said that each judges' score was averaged and rounded down… (3+3+2+5+4+4)+24=45 … which would have Lilith and Cedric tied for Second.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.

* * *

The names of Jamie… meanings and why I picked some of them… I used Behind the Name for most of this…

01 - Lady Harriett Lillian "Jamie" Potter

\- Ruler

\- An elaborate form of Lily

\- "Supplanter" one who replaces

02 - Lady Lilith Alya Black

\- One name needs to be a star…Alya is in the Theta Serpentis cluster

\- Of-The-Night Sky

03 - Freyja Kathrine Sophia Hufflepuff

\- Playing off the Norse origins of Helga… Freyja means Lady

\- Pure Wisdom

04 - Lady Tanith Selena Slytherin

\- Lady-Serpent Moon

05 - Lady Chryssa Rose Peverell

\- Golden-Flower Rose

\- Iolanthe Peverell (Violet Flower) and Lily Evans both married into the Potter line

\- Potters go for flower named girls… Daphne means Laurel… or gifts from the gods (Dorea and Nymphadora… even Euphemia fits (words of good omen))

06 - Lady Ceridwen Anwen Le Fey – goes by Anwen

\- Bent-Woman Very-Beautiful

\- As in "not straight" and lovely

07 - Miss Caoimhe "May" Alexis Monroe

\- Beautiful/Kind Defender

08 - Miss Kyrsi Taika Bell

\- Frost Magic

\- K. T. Bell… Katie Bell… Jamie was thinking of a certain blond Gryffindor Chaser when she come up with this one…

09 - Miss Miranda Isolde Gaunt

\- Admirable Battle-Iron… so that there would be at least one Admirable Gaunt…

10 - Miss Candida Gwyneth White

\- White, Pretty-White, White… Jamie couldn't think of a good name for this one…

11 - Lady Lilith, Chieftess of Clan Dunn

12 - Lady Anwen, Regent of Ravenclaw


	30. Oblivion

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 4**_ _ **–**_ _ **Oblivion**_

"Obliviate!" Lilith heard through the pain, then then restraints were removed, "We had a nice discussion were you agreed to donate all the proceeds from the slain dragon to Hogwarts, then you slipped on the stairs as you left." The blindfold was wiped away as she felt a foot collide with her ribs, shoving her off the top step of the spiral staircase to the Headmaster's office.

Half an hour later, she managed to stagger-hop her way into the infirmary, dragging her broken left leg and leaving a trail of blood behind. She was thankful she hadn't broken more than her leg, a few ribs, and her wrist in the fall down the stairs, but she knew she wouldn't have been able to move at all had her life with the Dursleys been even remotely normal. The pain between her legs dwarfed the rest of her injuries. She knew it was bad, she could feel the blood drying on her thighs, and she remembered everything, every touch, every different hand on her bare skin, every thrust, every word uttered around her, and she was cold.

Madam Pomfrey saw Lilith just as she entered the medic's domain and immediately bustled over and started berating the teenager about getting injured again. Lilith ignored her for the most part, working her way towards the nurse's office at the far end of the ward, but the Mediwitch was nearly as stubborn and hard headed as Lilith.

"You will lay on this bed and let me examine you!" the older witch demanded angrily.

Lilith shook her head, "not until I summon some Aurors."

"Aurors? What would you need Aurors for?"

"You will know that once you examine me with them as witness."

"I'll just pop a message to the Headmaster and…" Lilith slapped the witch's wand from her hand.

Glaring at the shocked healer, Lilith said, "Aurors first; second, Ms. Hyrenthal; then… once she is here… you can summon the Old Bastard."

"Why I never…"

"You're right. You've never acted this way before… what's is wrong with you Madam Pomfrey?"

"What?" The Mediwitch looked affronted.

"Call the Aurors… and maybe another Healer. I have legal and medical issues that need attending and suspect that you might as well." Lilith stated as calmly as she could, "but DO NOT call Snape or Dumbledore yet."

Madam Pomfrey tilted her head questioningly, "Why not?"

"I would rather tell the Aurors first, please."

A few minutes later Aurors Ward Williamson and Patricia Proudfoot arrived along with Healer Althea Priestley of St. Mungo's. Lilith was still standing beside one of the beds, struggling to remain upright but unwilling to sit or lay down yet and surrender to Madam Pomfrey's attention.

Williamson, the senior of the two Aurors, began immediately, disregarding Lilith's condition completely, "So… tell us little girl, what seems to be the problem? Lost your precious kitty or something?"

Lilith glared and then said savagely, "if by 'kitty' you're referring to my hymen… then yes."

Surprised by the retort, Williamson stood mute while Proudfoot took over and Healer Priestley quickly forced Lilith onto the bed to be examined, "I'm Pat Proudfoot… please… tell us what happened."

"I was up in the airship having Thanksgiving Dinner with Daphne, Hermione, Astoria and the girls from Salem when Colin Creevey called out for me to go meet with the other Champions. On the way there, I was stunned from behind. When I woke up, I was blindfolded, but I could hear Dumbledore talking to the others. I never saw them, but from what Dumbledore said, and the size of their…" Lilith shuddered, "I'm pretty sure it was Snape and Malfoy. When they were finished… one of them attempted to Obliviate me then kicked me down the stairs. And that Old Bastard is delusional if he thinks I'm donating anything to Hogwarts, let alone my dragon kill."

Proudfoot looked at Priestley, who answered the unasked question, "She's ruptured. Can't tell by who, but the discharge is pretty telling as to 'with what;' and they weren't gentle either. Three cracked ribs, leg broken in two places, dislocated shoulder, numerous contusions and abrasions…" the woman shook her head, "I doubt they used the charm, are you on the Potion, Miss…?"

"Lady Black… and no, going to an all-girl school, it seemed rather pointless."

"Then there's a chance, my Lady, that there could be natal development. Are you aware of the laws concerning such things?"

"There's no way I'm marrying any of those bastards, pregnancy or no. You might want to consider the laws concerning Line-Theft of Most Ancient and Noble Houses."

Proudfoot clarified that for the Healer, "The assault is a prison term, Attempted Line-Theft is a death sentence." Turning to Williamson, "We're going to have to take physical evidence, Ward… why don't you go get Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape. We'll probably need to speak with Malfoy and Creevey as well, which dorms are they in?"

"Malfoy is a fourth year Slytherin and Colin is a third year Gryffindor," Lilith answered before a still stunned Pomfrey could reply. Lilith then addressed the Healer, "you should check Madam Pomfrey too, she's not acting like she usually does."

"Call me Althea… and how do you mean?"

"She's usually friendly to me, joking about making potions taste bad so she doesn't get repeat customers and such. Tonight she was down right hostile when I came in, I had to argue to get her to call for Aurors."

"That is unusual, even without the assault, your condition warrants investigation. Why didn't you want them here Poppy?"

Madam Pomfrey turned to her fellow Healer, who was casting a few diagnostic spells in her direction, "The Headmaster wishes to handle all investigations internally and only involve the DMLE when necessary."

"The Headmaster doesn't have that authority," Proudfoot stated firmly.

"I think we need to move this to St. Mungo's, I'm detecting things I can't interpret with certainty… and some of these are very troubling."

"Where is Ms. Hyrenthal?" Lilith asked.

Confused, Patricia responded with, "Who?"

"Senior Professor from Salem. She should be here by now."

"Right. I'll just cast off a message to Williamson to collect her too and bring everyone to St. Mungo's. Probably need to call in a few more Aurors as well," Patricia said, putting deed to word while guiding Althea, who was helping Lilith hobble to the Floo, which Madam Pomfrey trailing behind.

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was slightly confused and very angry when he felt the Potter brat leave the wards and hurried back to his odd assortment of silver nick-knacks and tracking devices to find the child. Carefully devising a magical oath he could give to stop any investigations that might get the DMLE involved. The magics of Nurmengard helped with that, but it never hurt to be careful anyway.

* * *

After the fifth retelling of the attack in excruciating detail, Lilith was allowed to rest a bit, but she was too sore and angry to lay in bed as the Healers wanted her to do. She'd seen Andy briefly, but her guardian wasn't allowed to work on the case, however seeing her caused Lilith to start transfiguring various objects into daggers and begin practicing what Dora had taught her over the summer.

* * *

Ward Williamson found the Headmaster easily enough, as Dumbledore's office hadn't moved in the ten years since he had gone to Hogwarts, but being a Hufflepuff himself he did not know where Professor McGonagall's or Professor Snape's private quarters were located, or where the Slytherin common room was, other than in the dungeons.

"Pardon me sir," Ward said as he entered the Headmaster's office, a strong and distinctive odor permeating the air.

Dumbledore looked over sharply, but quickly masked his emotions in his grandfatherly façade, "Ah, Ward! What brings you to the castle so late?"

"The DMLE has been called in to investigate an assault sir. We need to speak with yourself, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and two students…" Ward consulted his notes, "a Mister Colin Creevey and a Mister Draco Malfoy. We also need to speak with a Ms. Hyrenthal."

Lacing a compulsion charm into his voice, Dumbledore replied, "I'm sure there is no need to involve the others. Elaborate on the event, if you would."

With a slight glaze over his eyes, Auror Williamson started babbling information to the Headmaster, "Lady Black has accused you of orchestrating an assault on her person, here in your office, through your agents, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy, with the assistance of Colin Creevey."

This angered Dumbledore even further, but he hid it well, "Let me clear this up for you then. I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, do swear on my magic that no girl has seen such an assault in my presence. I as I say, so I swear, so mote it be! _Lumos_! _Nox_." Lacing even more compulsion into his voice, "as you can see, magic proves the tale false. So, where is my accuser now?"

"Proudfoot took Lady Black to St. Mungo's for treatment."

* * *

A loud pop, a hand grabbing her shoulder, and the sudden sensation of being sucked through a straw, abruptly ended her practicing… although the shocked and horrified look in the Old Bastard's eyes as the dagger in Lilith's hand slipped between his ribs was something she would treasure for the rest of her life.

She was then slammed into the wall and knocked unconscious by the release of magic as the white-bearded wanker died.

* * *

Chaos reigned in St. Mungo's as guards and Aurors tried to figure out who breached their Secure Ward and snatched Lady Black from her room. Andy and Amelia were both livid.

* * *

Lilith awoke to the sound of soft crying. She had been mostly healed before the Old Coot kidnapped her, but now she felt that the fresh mending on her broken leg had come undone, and perhaps something new with her ribs as difficult as it was to move.

The other person in the room quietly murmured, "Oh Gel… why did you do it?"

Her soft moan, cut off whatever the other person was saying. Suddenly a hand was helping her onto a low couch. She almost struck him when she turned to gaze upon his long, white-bearded face, but noticed that is nose was a little more bulbus than the Headmaster's corpse on the floor, and his eyes were brownish green instead of icy blue.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

The new, old man gazed at her sadly, "I am Albus Dumbledore."

"No you're not. He is!" She declared pointing to the corpse on the floor, "Err… was…"

"I suppose that is true as well from your perspective. He was in fact my husband, in all but law, Gellert Grindlewald."

"Grindlewald's been dead for fifty years. Try again."

He sighed, "No girl, Gellert and I had a major falling out over what happened to my sister… we fought… I lost. Ever heard of Nurmengard?" Lilith shook her head. "It's a wizarding prison, designed by Gel to hold his enemies. That's where I've been, looking through a tiny window towards my precious homeland. I'd be there still if it weren't for my old friend Fawkes… and you, I suppose."

"Me?"

"You killed Gel did you not? I loved him dearly, but he was not the man I loved anymore… he hasn't been for quite some time now." The new Dumbledore sat staring at the corpse for a few minutes. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name?"

"Lilith Black."

"Well Miss Black… you seem to be injured… and I suppose we'll have to deal with the DMLE about Gel over there. Tell me… is Pilliwickle still hanging around or has my old dorm mate finally moved on to a real job?"

"Pilliwickle? Amelia Bones is the Director of the DMLE now."

"Amelia Bones? Any relation to Bastian Bones?"

"No clue."

Locating some parchment, he scribbled a note and asked Fawkes to deliver it to Miss Bones.

* * *

Master Crushbone stood in the Lifestone Chamber starring at his favorite client's stone in consternation; whatever was going on with that girl was truly confusing. Each Lifestone possessed its' own unique color that pulsed with power and glowed as long as the soul it is tied to is alive. Lifestones merged during soul-bonds, entwined during marriages, budded and sprouted for offspring, but fracturing? He would need to consult with the elders, something was very, very unusual with this particular client.

* * *

The Auror strike force appeared quickly, three by port-key, two by apparition, and three more outside using a classified portaling method controlled by the Unspeakables in the Department of Mysteries. After securing the scene, taking both Lilith's and Dumbledore's wands for processing, three of the Aurors stepped outside to join the others on guard duty until the boss finished with her initial interviews with the two living persons that where on-scene when the Aurors arrived.

"Lady Black, care to explain what I have before me?" Madam Director Amelia Bones questioned, noting Auror Medic Leona Royce-Jinkins investigating the corpse in the room, and Senior Auror Investigator Connie Hammer entering through the front door.

Lilith looked up at Amelia, uncomfortable sitting down but forcing herself to stay still, "Remember what I was doing when I was snatched away from St. Mungo's? Throwing daggers at the doorframe?"

Amelia nodded.

"Well… when he apparated me here," Lilith pointed to the corpse, "he spun me around to face him, and I still had a dagger in hand and… I killed him."

"Who was he, Leona?" Amelia asked, but not getting a quick response asked again, "Auror Jinkins, report."

"It's Dumbledore…" the shocked medic finally replied.

"No," the man Amelia had initially taken to be Dumbledore responded, " _that_ is Gellert Grindlewald."

"It can't be," Leona said in disbelief, "Grindlewald's been dead for fifty years. Dumbledore killed him."

"I'm sorry dear girl, Gel and I fought back then yes, but…" Lilith stopped him.

"Albus imprisoned Gellert back then… he did not kill him, however a few years ago Gellert managed to swap their locations."

Amelia glance at Lilith and then glared accusingly at Dumbledore, knowing that statement to be false. "Connie, Leona, I need a few moments with these two. Can you wait outside until I call you back in please?" Knowing the request wasn't a request, the two Aurors joined their colleagues outside. "Now… shall we begin again? What happened?"

Unable to sit still any longer, Lilith got up and started pacing as she laid out what happened to the man on the floor and her plan to keep society from slipping into chaos at the thought that the Dark Wizard Grindlewald had been the "Leader of the Light" for so long that no one knew any different. The sun was just breaking over the horizon when Amelia finally called Connie and Leona back in, taking Lilith back to St. Mungo's for additional treatment and Dumbledore to get a room at the Three Broomsticks so they could bring him up-to-date about 'his' life.

* * *

"WORMTAIL!" a voice screeched through the decaying house.

"Yes, m-my lord?" the balding wizard replied, scurrying into the room.

"What newsss from Barty?"

"He still does not know how Potter was entered twice, but the plan proceeds."

"Good… I'm hungry. Milk Nagini and feed me at once."

"Y-yes, my lord…"

-Author's Notes-

I'm doing my best to keep this at a T rating… let me know how I'm doing with that.

I've been reading a lot of Fan-Fiction… for any of you that are writers, or are contemplating writing, PLEASE look into picking up a grammar book… your and you're are not interchangeable… write your works without conjunctions first, then shorten "You Are" to "You're" if you want… same with they're/their/there… they are / belonging to them / and a place… try writing it without the conjunctions again, or dropping the T… "put it there" makes sense… so does "put it here" … "put it heir" however does not. PM me if you want and I'll give you the information for a great textbook.

* * *

The release of magic on the death of a mage comes from Trudi Canavan's Black Magician series… though the Harry Potter series has a "Killing Curse" which leaves no mark on the victim, why would such a thing be created? A _Diffindo_ to the neck is just as deadly, uses less power, and is actually faster to cast (granted it can be blocked).

So, here I'm making the _Avada Kadavra_ into a siphon… it only appears to be unblockable as it actually latches onto the first magic it encounters and consumes it, adding that power to the caster's magical reserves. Shields that are still being fed power are still tied to the core of the defender, and thus allow the AK to siphon all the magic away, leaving a husk behind while making the attacker more powerful.

The second reason for this is the destruction of the Potter's Cottage in Godric's Hollow 10/31/1981 where the massive discharge of magical power when Voldemort died destroyed a significant portion of the house, but the deaths of James and Lily did not.

* * *

Oh… before you all get confused… last segment was the 24th of November… this segment was the night of the 24th until dawn on the 25th… lots have happened within this short time… and so much will come from it in due time.

* * *

I pulled the Immunity to Mind Magics from Sinyk's "Harry Potter and the Daft Morons" (story ID 12562072).

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	31. The Ball

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 5**_ _ **–**_ _ **The Ball**_

Amelia Bones and Dora Tonks sat staring at the cremated remains in a large, muggle, Zip-Lock baggy, "So… what do we do with that?"

"Officially, Dumbledore defeated Grindlewald June 28th, 1944 near Minsk and everyone _believes_ he died there. So…" Amelia sighed and wiped her monocle, "we make this disappear."

"Okay… and what do we do with what Lilith told us?"

"It's complicated. Williamson has a memory of this guy," Amelia pointed at the baggy, "swearing a wizard's oath that it didn't happen; while Priestley's exams show that it did. If Lilith pushed things right now, it would probably all fall apart."

"So what _can_ we do?"

"As of right now… without more proof… sadly nothing."

"More proof? You mean…" the normally pink haired Auror's hair turned stark white.

"It would certainly hang one of her attackers, and the Oath Williamson got would protect Dumbledore… probably."

"Poor Lilith… this country's housed very little kindness for her."

* * *

It took them nearly two weeks to randomly select the correct muggle candy Grindlewald had passworded the Headmaster's Office with. Dumbledore always making an excuse to leave the castle for a meeting or other 'urgent business,' which usually entailed Amelia Bones or Andy Black-Tonks working through Grindlewald's public persona of Dumbledore so that the real Dumbledore could passably impersonate himself.

Lilith was having a difficult time however, since she had to pretend to have been Obliviated of the assault and ignore Malfoy's taunting hints and Snape's hateful glares as if nothing had happened. Daphne didn't know either, and it was hurting the newly formed relationship badly. Snape was a master level Legilimencer according to Dumbledore, who admitted to being one as well, when asking how Lilith's Occlumency shields were so strong in her fourth year, and was surprised when the green eyed witch replied that she'd never heard of the skill before. Lilith would tell her in a heartbeat if she knew the pretty, blond Slytherin would be able to protect the secrets in her mind, but even asking about it could get back to Snape and cause problems.

She couldn't even talk of it with Amelia Raven who she was sharing a room with on the Airship. She could mask the cramping, soreness, and depression somewhat though the fatigue and nausea where another matter entirely, and the purple haired, Navajo girl was getting really worried about her. She couldn't sleep, every time she closed her eyes she could feel them, indistinct whispers in the crowds in the halls of the castle subtly morphed into the taunts and abuse hurled at her drudging up the pain over and over again. She couldn't withdraw into herself, as she did after Sirius was murdered, and she couldn't attack the bastards, as she wanted to, since she needed 'proof' that wouldn't implicate Dumbledore for Grindlewald's part in it.

And then it happened, the gargoyle blocking the entrance hopped aside letting them in. Dumbledore quickly moved out of the room he was using in the Three Broomsticks and into the Headmaster's Suite, so he could look through any journals or notes that his former friend might have had hidden there. They found a large box of books that were to be distributed to the students that were considering submitting their names for the tournament, since they would be bound to a sub-contract even if not chosen Champion and could be used in the tournament, supplemental journals and calendars for the Champions, detailing what was and what was not allowed, rule books for the Judges dictating scoring, even pamphlets and programs for spectators attending the tasks.

At lunch on the ninth, Professor McGonagall rose from her place at the Head Table and made an announcement, there would be a Yule Ball on Saturday the 24th from 6pm to Midnight, all students 4th year and higher were encouraged to attend, those younger could attend if accompanying an older student, and the Champions would receive special instructions on Monday after supper.

* * *

Lilith met up with Daphne in the library that afternoon for their usual study group session, but sat off a bit from the others.

"Are you alright, Lils?"

"I'm fff… no… no, I'm not… but I can't tell you about it right now," Lilith said with a sigh, sorrow and self-pity raging insider her.

"Do you not trust me?"

"It's not that Daph, it's… complicated. I want to tell you but…" she winced as a particularly strong cramp hit, then whispered, "I don't know what to do."

Daphne narrowed her eyes and displeasure, but let it drop for now, "So… a Yule Ball huh?"

"Yeah, and as a Champion I probably _have_ to go. Would you like to go with me?"

"What? Um… is that allowed?"

"Don't know… don't particularly care… do you want to?"

"I… yes."

Lilith sighed, "Thank you… I don't think I could go with anyone else… even if I wanted to…" the raven haired teen trailed off confusing her girlfriend.

* * *

The Champions met with McGonagall, Karkaroff, Maxime, and Bagman in the little ante-room off the Great Hall where the First-years wait before sorting. The meeting wasn't long… barely two minutes… simply informing the Champions that they were _required_ to open the Yule Ball with a traditional three-step Waltz. As the others filed out, the Deputy Headmistress pulled Lilith aside.

"Miss Potter, a word if you don't mind?"

"Aunt Min… it's Black now… but sure."

Minerva sighed, "Sorry… Lilith then. I was wondering if you have had a chance to find a partner for the dance yet and if you needed any instruction on the Waltz itself?"

"Yes, I already have a date and Madam Dunn at the Royal Dance Academy said I was… 'adequate' at the three-step Waltz, though she grades kind of like Snape does without the sneering and hostility. I prefer other styles of dance myself."

"Professor Snape…"

"No Aunt Min… just Snape. One, I'm not a student at this school; Two, I must profess that I have yet to encounter a single instance of that man imparting any knowledge, let alone useful knowledge, of the subject he is being paid to instruct upon, to an appropriate age pupil, or group of pupils, whether it be in class or not."

Startled, Minerva asked, "What?"

"The only time he actually imparted any knowledge that I can recall was the first day of first year when he quizzed me on fourth and fifth year material during roll-call. The rest of the time it has always been, 'the instructions are on the board, begin;' or some such."

"That's… that's…" Minerva sighed shaking her head.

"There's more, but I think you have the picture now… and I'd rather not discuss such personal matters here. Goodnight."

The Deputy Headmistress did not know how to interpret that statement, and so, watched mutely as Lilith departed.

* * *

Albus stared into the cabinet he'd just opened in wonder; there had to be thousands of crystal vials containing memories lining the doors and shelves within. With a heavy sigh he began looking through the labels on a shelf at eye-level trying to determine where to even begin to try integrating all of these into his own life. Just what did AAD19420614-TMR&RRH, HEFS19420331t-TMR or SPT19800629-HLPorNML mean anyway?

He scratched his head and decided to start at the top and work his way down, hopefully that would give him a better understanding of his old friend and an even better place to start from when impersonating himself.

* * *

The morning before the Yule Ball, Daphne dragged Lilith to Madam Pomfrey at Amelia's urging. The American girl was really worried about her roommate's continuous, yet random, nausea and cramping, even if her 'twin' tried to cover it up or blow it off as 'no big deal.'

Lilith fully expected the dreaded news.

Daphne was shocked at her girlfriend's condition.

Poppy went and called for Amelia Bones to join them.

The Director of the DMLE was all for arresting the 'father' immediately, but Lilith had an alternative plan which had all three of the others grinning in anticipation of that evening's events.

* * *

At a quarter to six that evening, Lilith met Daphne in the entry hall before the doors of the Great Hall. Lilith's emerald green ball gown with Celtic-like silver knotwork embroidering was amazing to many who gazed upon her, while Daphne's matching sapphire blue and gold gown was just as beautiful, and the two together was a breathtaking sight. When Professor McGonagall called them over to arrange 'The Champion's Entrance' to start the Ball, Percy Weasley, filling in for the 'overworked' Barty Crouch, Sr., immediately pounced on the two girls.

"No, no, no! We can't be having this!" Quickly looking around he spotted a former housemate lounging around unescorted, "McLaggen, you'll escort Miss Potter tonight won't you?"

"Sure," the cocky sixth year preened, as Lilith protested, "I was asked three weeks ago if I had a date for tonight… and in all that time not once did ANYONE complain about Daphne and me being together… so you can shove your prejudices where the sun doesn't shine Percy!"

"What's going on here?" Ludo Bagman inquired.

Percy pointed to the pair of girls before him, "We simply can't allow Miss Potter and Miss Greengrass to escort each other!"

"Then it's a good think Lady Black is attending instead of Miss Potter…" Lilith tried to cut in.

Percy continued ignoring Lilith, "Think of the press? Think of the reputation of the British Ministry? No! This simply can not be allowed."

"Hmm? I don't really see the problem with it; but let's check the rules shall we?" Bagman pulled out a copy of the rule book, "Champion's dates for the Yule Ball… no… hmm… 'traditional three-step waltz,' I wonder…" he put the rule book away and had a house-elf bring him a copy of the Gorthrymus Boenus' Book of Wizarding Traditions, "Hmm, yes… yes… I see… well… It looks like Mr. Weasley is correct, by Wizarding Traditions couples must be of opposing genders."

"What?" Lilith grouched, "Of all the stuck up… fine!" She then turned to Daphne, "Sorry, seems our date will have to start _AFTER_ the first dance of the night."

"No, no, NO! We simply can not allow that either I'm afraid…"

"Shut Up, Weasley!"

"Now see here! I'm here as the Representative of the Ministry of Magic!"

Lilith glared at Percy, "Fine! I'm going to make _SURE_ to be on the front page of the Prophet in the morning."

"Huh?" Percy looked stunned.

Taking McLaggen's arm, Lilith said sternly, "Keep your hands to yourself, Cormac, if you wish to keep them."

"I'll just let our friend know of the slight change in plans Lils," Daphne said sadly.

Lilith quickly hugged her girlfriend, "Thank you, Daphne, I appreciate that."

"Well then," Minerva finally said, "if I can get Mr. Diggory and Ms. Chang up front, then Mr. Krum and Ms. Delacour, and finally Ms. Black and Mr. McLaggen. We shall begin in a moment."

* * *

The next hour was exceedingly tedious, from Lilith's perspective. Cormac kept trying to feel her up under the table while asking if she wanted more wine, completely ignoring the fact that she hadn't touched the goblet throughout the meal, it took all of her willpower to keep from stabbing the Gryffindor narcissist with her fork. When it came to discussing anything with Cho, the Chinese girl acted about as air headed as Ron Weasley around a Veela, due to the presence of Cedric Diggory on her other side. Too bad Fleur was at the other end of the table, the French girl might be a bit stuck up, but at least she was intelligent.

The Vella girl got lucky that Krum asked her to partner him. With the Bulgarian Quidditch mascots being Veela, he was immured to their aura and could actually keep his wits around her; though it was probable that he did so, so that his boyfriend back in Romania wouldn't become jealous of his date.

And then it was time to dance.

Cormac was terrible at the three-step waltz, or the four-step waltz, or whatever the heck he was attempting to do. It didn't help that the tempo of the music Screaming Haggis was playing was all wrong for any sort of formal dance, though the semi-Vivaldi piece was rather nice on the ear, Lilith had preferred the last Bach-like number during the meal.

Halfway through the number, the signal was given so others may begin dancing as well. It was nice to see Hermione and Neville dancing, though his red robes were ill-matched to her periwinkle dress, at least they looked to be having fun together. Little Luna Lovegood and Blaze Zabini were making a but of a show of it off to one side, dancing to a bizarre tune only they could somehow hear, while Ginny Weasley and Steven Cornfoot appeared to be into very risqué forms of Public Displays of Affection.

As the first dance ended, Lilith firmly removed McLaggen's hands from her person as she noticed Madam Bones slip into the Great Hall. Since she had maneuvered them back towards the front of the Hall, she quickly ascended the stage and called for everyone's attention.

"May I have everyone's attention please? I have a small announcement."

"Just can't get enough of yourself can you Potter," Snape sneered from the size of the room.

Ignoring the greasy git for the moment, Lilith continued, "One month ago, I was attacked by people in this very room, and I'd like to give them this opportunity to come forward and admit their crimes to Madam Bones of the DMLE at this time."

No one moved.

"No takers? Perhaps you are wanting some proof of the crime then?" Lilith saw a few nods amongst the crowd, "I'm pregnant."

That statement was like a bomb in the room. The gasps and shouted questions, angry comments and demands for the Aurors to do something, eventually quieted down as they saw that Lilith still had more to say.

"There is a spell to prove who the father of my child is," whispers arose amongst the crowd again, "which is why I've asked Madam Bones and Healer Priestley to join me tonight to share with you all the results of that spell. However, before we get to that… I offer the guilty parties to that assault the chance to come forward now… and even offer an incentive! Per Wizarding traditions, a Wizard must marry a Witch that is carrying his child," angry murmurs ran through the audience, "but I will not be marrying the father. Before you ask why, you need to remember that I am the Head of _several_ Noble and Ancient Houses and this pregnancy can be taken as attempted _Line-Theft_." More gasps from the pureblood and magic raised met this statement while the muggle raised looked about curious as to what that meant. "So your incentive is this… all of you come forward to accept your punishment, and I'll ask Madam Bones if it would be possible to spare you from facing the Veil."

"She's going to execute the Headmaster? Just wait 'til your father hears about this," Draco's goon commented to the blond ponce from off near the back of the room.

"Ah! Mr. Goyle claims to have knowledge of the act and is accusing the Headmaster," Lilith called the Slytherin boy out.

Auror Williamson stepped forward, "I've already taken the Headmaster's Oath that no girl has seen such an assault in his presence."

Without thinking Draco spoke up, "Of course she didn't, she was blindfolded."

"So, Mr. Malfoy also has knowledge he failed to provide the DMLE. Although that tidbit of knowledge does cast some doubt on the Headmaster's Oath."

"I'll happily give you another Oath Lady Black."

"In a bit Headmaster. Anyone else want to speak up as either an accessory or primary in the attack?" Lilith looked around, "No one? I guess you'd prefer to be tossed through the Veil of Death than have some chance at a different fate?"

"Fine! I did it!"

"And who was with you Mr. Malfoy? Remember, all of you must come forward to receive the chance I offer."

The self-proclaimed Prince of Slytherin shifted around uneasily, then shouted out, "Professor Snape!"

"First the Headmaster and now the Potions Master? Any others you want to try implicating?"

"Foolish child, I had nothing to do with it," Snape speared Draco with a scathing glare.

"Well Professor Snape," Lilith started, making sure to use the man's title for once, "Would you swear an Oath that you have never, to date, personally witnessed, or participated in, an assault on my person?"

Snape glared at Lilith, as everyone in the room came to understand that the 'dungeon bat' had indeed been party to an attack on the girl at the front of the room at some point in her life, even if he denied being part of the situation that led to tonight's 'small announcement.'

"I see. Well then, I suppose it's time for the test. Healer Priestly?"

Althea stepped up beside Lilith and cast the spell. For a moment nothing happened, then two lights emerged from Lilith's stomach area. They first rose to hover just above her head, then shot off to hover in front of Draco and Snape.

"Dizygotic superfecundation," Althea whispered.

"Dizawhat?" Lilith asked.

"You're carrying Sororal twins… two separate children from two different eggs."

"Don't you mean Fraternal, Healer Priestly?" Hermione asked from nearby.

"Nope. The color of the light generated by that spell indicate the gender of the fetus as well… both are girls."

Lots of conversations sprang up as Lilith joined Daphne and followed the Aurors, who were dragging a very reluctant Goyle, Malfoy, and Snape, out of the Great Hall. Meanwhile Percy was cajoling the band to start up again, in an attempt to resurrect the Ball.

* * *

Not only did Lilith make the front page of the Daily Prophet, but had an entire Special Edition dedicated to her, the twins, Wizarding Traditions, and the laws regarding Line-Theft. It was also revealed that, even though Lilith _could_ have asked if a lesser sentence could be imposed, none were available due to the strict nature of the current laws on the matter.

There were a lot of unhappy Witches and Wizards throughout the world, and a few of them plotted revenge.

-Author's Notes-

Never having personally been assaulted the same way Lilith was, nor contracting the resulting condition, I'm working on information collected from the internet on a great deal of this. If you are interested in finding more information on this, or what websites I'm using, shoot me a PM and I'll let you know. Somewhat surprisingly, most of the typical conditions encountered for either event are the same, though the assault tends lead the victim towards a bit darker emotional state resulting in sleep issues, fear, vulnerability, loss of focus, anger, and depression while the normal version has "Mood Swings" from giddy to angry to contentment to fear… yeah… pretty much the same.

Please let me know if I go too far with some of this… I'm still trying to keep it all at a T rating… so anything I encountered walking the halls of my high school, but not much more than that.

* * *

If you want to know what I'm thinking the music for the Yule Ball is like… check out " _The Piano Guys_ " on YouTube… Code Name Vivaldi is a good one – youtu be/09RUuTAM2H0 – there is a period between the u and b in YouTube on that address but that is the only one. You have to remember the _Weird Sisters_ and _Screaming Haggis_ would be "progressive" for a society that's three hundred years behind their muggle counterparts… and this is for a school dance.

* * *

A lot of people like Cedric Diggory… and don't like my portrayal of him… but think… he learned to be who he is from his father, who we see much more of in the series… how does Amos Diggory treat Harry Potter in Canon? At the start of _Goblet of Fire_ , Amos is a boastful, braggart, taunting Harry about his son's victory in the Quidditch game that nearly had Harry Kissed by Dementors or fall to his death… after the tournament he is downright mean at times… some of that afterwards could be misplaced blame for the death of his son… but it was there _before_ his son was killed.

As for Cedric himself… on Halloween he was confused, angry and accusatorial towards Harry after the drawing; after the walk in the woods, he was mistrustful and had done nothing to dissuade the All-Welcoming House of the Loyal and Hardworking from snubbing and or attacking Harry; after the first task, he was somewhat friendly, though cryptic, because he felt he owed Harry a debt of knowledge for the warning about the dragons… so… Cedric's a jerk in my opinion.

* * *

Even if Dumbledore only saved one memory a week for fifty years, that's over two thousand memories, and he was collecting them from other people as well… so…bonus points if you can tell me what the three memories are that Dumbledore read the labels on before starting at the top.

* * *

Gorthrymus Boenus – Welsh for Wretched and Painful

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	32. The Second Task

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 6**_ _ **–**_ _ **The Second Task**_

The day dawned at the Ministry of Magic to many mixed feelings among those that worked there. Today's Emergency Session of the Wizengamot was for the Trials of Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy for Attempted Life Theft of an Ancient and Noble House. Some where wondering just why there was going to be a trial, since the evidence was iron-clad indicating their guilt, while a few argued that a 'pureblood' couldn't be charged with such a crime against a person of lesser blood, and yet others questioning the legality of the Line Theft laws when other laws demanded that the witch wed the father.

Having studied as many of Grindlewald's memories of other Wizengamot sessions as he could, and after receiving a fairly through briefing from Amelia Bones, Albus opened the proceedings, "Today, Wednesday the 28th of December, 1994, we are gathered in judgement of two Wizards: namely Professor and Potions Master Severus Tobias Snape of the Elder House of Prince and Heir Apparent Draco Lucius Malfoy of the Magical House of Malfoy; who stand accused of attempting to usurp the rights, powers, and privileges of several Most Ancient and Noble, Ancient and Elder Houses: namely the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Black, Hufflepuff, Le Fay, Peverell, Potter, and Slytherin, the Most Ancient House of Monroe, the Ancient House of Gaunt, and the Elder Houses of Bell and White; as well as interests in the Most Ancient and Noble House of Ravenclaw, interests in the Scottish Clan of Dunn, and ties to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Gryffindor, and the Elder Houses of Bulstrode and McGonagall; by means of physical assault upon the Head of the aforementioned Houses of Bell, Black, Gaunt, Hufflepuff, Le Fay, Monroe, Peverell, Potter, Slytherin and White, Regent Ravenclaw, and Chieftess Dunn, resulting in Sororal Twin Impregnation of… for simplicities sake… Lady Lilith Alya Black, who is also known by many other names, including, but not limited to, Harriett Lillian 'Jamie' Potter, James Daniel Evens, and The-Girl-Who-Lived. Is the Accuser present?"

"She is, Chief Warlock," the Head of the DMLE stated.

"Very well. Are the Accused present?"

"They are Chief Warlock," Amelia Bones returned.

"Do the Accused wish to stand together or severally?"

"Severally, Chief Warlock," the elderly wizard beside Snape said casually.

"Who stands for the Accused?"

The old wizard stood and spoke, "Alan Rickman for Severus Snape, your Honor."

A much younger wizard stood up beside Draco, "Thomas Felton for House Malfoy. House Malfoy also wishes to Post a Counter for the Protection and Continuation of their Line."

"Indeed. Madam Director Bones, you may present your case against the Accused."

In a Muggle Court those tried separately would have separate trials, however that is not the case with the Wizengamot. Instead of separating the two accused wizards, a sound and sight barrier was erected so that they could not see or hear each other and questions could be directed to each or both at the discretion of the Chief Warlock.

Like many, Lilith was a bit confused and grew more so during the proceedings. While Mr. Felton didn't even attempt to defend Draco, he argued that Lilith should be placed under House Malfoy protection and that her unborn child should be raised by House Malfoy to ensure the girl received a 'proper' education. Mr. Rickman, strenuously denied Snape's involvement and even offered, at Snape's request, for his client to take Veritaserum to prove fact, provided that no _other_ questions were asked while the potion was in effect. In the end, three votes were called for from the Wizengamot, and Lilith was very displeased by the results.

Draco was found guilty, though Minister Fudge argued leniency due to Draco being a minor, so he was given only a fine of a hundred thousand Galleons (for his daughter's education), thirty-six months of probation and required to separate himself from Lilith's presence, to have no contact with her, or her children, for life; the second vote went her way, keeping herself free of House Malfoy, for which Lilith was grateful.

As for Snape, somehow his testimony under Veritaserum proclaimed that he did not commit the crime, even though the genetics testing spell proved the child was his. As a result, Lilith was _required_ to allow him to participate in her daughter's life, but she was thankfully not required to marry him. This ruling however, also required her to resume her education at Hogwarts following the birth of her daughters, or potentially lose custody of one of her twins to Snape permanently.

Lilith was very displeased.

* * *

Saul Croaker peered into the pinkish-purple crystal, eyes tracing the various cracks that had appeared in the last few weeks. None of the detection or analysis spells the Unspeakables had used on it had returned any useful information; it's there, it's magic, it's not dead, it's not alive, it's moving, but it's completely still, it's not rational, nor does it exist, but it's there in front of him… so many contradictions. He wondered what it was, how it came to be in Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black's cell in Azkaban, and if the mad woman was actually inside it or had somehow managed to escape the prison as her husband had.

Croaker shrugged and turned back to his other project, staring at the late Lord Sirius Black, held in magical suspension.

"Well Black, seems your time has come," he said waving his wand to animate the soulless body, "I've always wondered what would happen to someone like you when they were passed through the Veil of Death; so I must thank you for volunteering for this little experiment."

* * *

"These readings," the mediwitch muttered as she passed her wand over Lilith's abdomen again. "Lilith when was the last time you…?"

"Six weeks, three days, eight hours ago."

"Lilith! You know how important that is for the development of a witch."

"I know Madam Pomfrey; but every time I close my eyes, I feel… _them_ … and I just…" the teenaged witch shuddered.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, "I understand, but you need to release the built up magical residue. I could harm your daughters."

"But I…"

"Will need help?" The older witch asked rhetorically, nodding in answer to her own question. "It's likely Lilith. However, I do _not_ recommend Daphne for this."

"What? Why?"

"Your relationship is still rather new, and this could… sour… things between the two of you. I would however recommend talking to her about it; she might be able to help without participating… at least at first."

"You mean… someone _else_?" Lilith asked with a slight shudder of revulsion again.

"You aren't the first young lady to go through this, nor, unfortunately, will you be the last. Talk to Daphne. Find a way past this. If you need a mind healer, let me know and I'll try to arrange one before the Second Task… actually… I'll do that anyway. Now, off to breakfast with you."

"Ugh…" Lilith dove for the emesis basin next to the bed.

"You know… releasing the build up should help with the Morning Sickness too."

"Ugh…"

* * *

Daphne wasn't sure what to do about Lilith. One minute the girl was clutching on to her for dear life, the next she was bubbly and cheerful, then immediately take off running away and crying, before mellowing out and reading a book for a while, followed up by a spike of pure pleasure, and go straight back to depressed again, apologizing all the while. Mind Healer Keiko Mazuri said that this was normal for pregnancies and assault victims, and to just be there for her.

Susan Bones had volunteered to assist Lilith with her other matter, after overhearing Lilith talking about it with her Aunt Amelia. Susan thought she could handle it, she really did, but bondage and tears really were not her cup of tea, however she did manage to discreetly find someone that Daphne approved of and did enjoy such things without being cruel or sadistic. Now they just had to convince Lilith to go along with the new possibilities presented.

* * *

Some of Gellert's memories were tame, some confusing, some disturbing, and others downright vile, not one could be said to be happy or pleasant and Albus was beginning to get a bit fearful of browsing the rest as he was not even halfway through the lot yet. He had figured out the labeling however and passed the ones concerning the Tournament to Amelia for review, so hopefully any further _unpleasantness_ could be avoided.

* * *

Lilith had managed to avoid Snape during the weeks leading up to the Second Task, either by simply taking meals in the airship or withdrawing to 'study' whenever he showed up. She knew she would have to confront him soon and figure out how to live with the dictates laid upon her life by the Wizengamot, but she wasn't ready yet to meet with him yet, and feared she may never be ready.

Tonight however she had to focus on the Task.

Like the First Task, the judges had told them next to nothing about what this Task entailed… Face yourself… what the bloody hell are they on about?

Fleur was out there right now, 'facing herself,' while the rest of them waited in the anteroom off the Great Hall.

"Jamie Potter. The Ankou will attend you now," the ghost of an old man named Johnathon, one of the Ankou's two attendants they had been introduced to shortly before Fleur left, announced.

Lilith was nervous, but simply nodded and headed out to face her task.

What appeared to be an eight-year-old girl in bone white robes sitting on a throne of bones headed the Great Hall while the students and staff sat in bleachers along the sides and the ghostly teenage girl, 'Sam,' awaited Lilith in the middle of the room. Silencing Wards must have been erected as Lilith could see the crowds making a ruckus but couldn't hear them, what worried her though was seeing Fleur in tears off to the side of the platform the Head table usually sat upon.

"For what reason do you come before the Ankou?" Sam asked her.

Lilith was a little confused, "To complete the second task of this tournament I've been forced to compete in."

"You are not…"

"Sam."

"Yes, Ankou." Sam turned and bowed to the girl on the throne, "there is an issue with this candidate, Ankou. She is pregnant."

"My master's granddaughters will be fine. Proceed."

"Yes, Ankou." Sam turned back to Lilith, "To succeed, you must overcome the darkness within you. _Kutsua Fylgjur Käänteinen Fetchi!_ "

For a moment nothing happened, then three shadows arose around her.

The first she had seen last a year and a half previously, in the Chamber of Secrets below the school, was laying upon the ground clutching at the Dagger of Morea Slytherin she had taken from the Gaunt Family Vault in Gringott's piercing his chest, a dark haze hovering in the air above him, and a pool of black liquid spreading across the flagstone flooring.

The second, like the first, way laying upon the floor with a stone dagger in his chest and red liquid spreading quickly. That this figure appeared to be the Headmaster had many turning to stare at Dumbledore in wonder.

The third however, was a teenaged boy with messy black hair, green eyes and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his brow.

"You'll never succeed," the shade of Harry Potter told her, "You can't."

Lilith stared at the apparition for a moment, "What do you mean?"

"You can destroy the darkness of others, sure… darkness imposed upon you," he waved at the shade of Thomas Riddle, "or the darkness of your upbringing," gesturing towards the shade of Grindlewald, "but I am the darkness that comes from within you. Your lusts, fears, desires, frustrations, desperations, anger, hatred, torment, pain."

Lilith flinched a little as Harry spoke each word, images flew through her mind showing her each of these things, many focused within the assault after the First Task. The litany went on and on, and Lilith didn't even notice when she started crying; nor did she see the Ankou motion for Sam not to interfere with what was going on.

After an age, she finally brought her eyes to bare on the gloating gleam of the shade's eyes, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Startled, Harry broke off what he was saying, "What?"

She stepped forward and hugged him, "I'm sorry. I need you… without you I wouldn't be me."

Fear entered his eyes, "But you killed them!"

Lilith shook her head, "I only silenced their voices, 'for as you can see… they are still with me."

"But?"

"I need you, even if I choose not to act upon your input. I need you, so that I know what not to do to others. I need you, but you are not me. Now it is time for you to return."

The three shades faded away, leaving the crowds confused as to what had happened, as Sam led Lilith to stand before the Ankou.

"Well done."

"Thank you. Um… not to be rude, but… what are you?"

The Ankou laughed, "Call me Kelly, it was my name before. I am a… Grim Reaper of sorts."

"Really?"

"What? Did you think my boss could visit everyone personally? Each year, the last person that dies in a parish assumes the role of Ankou for the next year. There are over fifteen thousand of us working for Death in England alone. Of course, I'm a bit of a special case."

"Oh?"

"I'll tell you later, it's time to see what young Cedric will do."

Even after two months, Cedric looked uncomfortable in his Gryffindor robes standing beside Sam. Lilith wasn't sure what the shade said to him when Sam cast the Kutsua Fylgjur Käänteinen Fetchi upon him, but Cedric launched into a series of brutal spells that scorched and clouded the area with debris. When the dust settled, the shade however was completely unfazed while Cedric was laying on the floor unconscious from spell damage.

"So sad… so much anger and self-loathing…" Kelly stated, as Madam Pomfrey quickly bustled the boy off to the infirmary.

"I feel sorry for him. Perhaps I shouldn't have kicked him out of Hufflepuff."

"No. You did the right thing. Hufflepuff suited him when he was eleven, but he's changed much since then." With a wave of her hand the room was once again clean and ready for Viktor.

"What did Fleur do?"

"Heh… she fought like young Cedric, but she did it with her heart; the fires were spectacular."

Sam actually had to end Viktor's fight in order to save the boy's life.

"Whoever thought this was a good task for this tournament must have been a woman… males usually have such difficulties dealing with their emotions."

Lilith looked at Kelly, troubled by that comment, "I was a boy for a decade."

"Yes, yet even then your emotions were more your own for the girl that had been hidden within you," the Ankou replied. "Come, we should speak of Thomas and other things. They will not be ready to present the points for a while yet."

Surprised by the invitation, she asked, "Don't I have to go again? They said I had to since my name came out twice."

Kelly chuckled, "No, you were not actually bound to this tournament until you chose to compete; and even then you are only _acting_ as Champion for the one who entered your name. It is impossible for you to Champion two people for this task and no one else has stepped forward to compete."

"So I…"

"Have to compete now, since you've already chosen to do so, but only once. Come, let us away."

Kelly, Sam and Johnathan talked with Lilith for hours that night, discussing Tom Riddle and other things. Kelly had died at the end of 1980 in her home parish of Wychavon, and it was her duty to collect Thomas before she could finally rest as Little Hangleton is the magical side of Little Hampton.

-Author's Notes-

Okay… I'm moderating Guest reviews from now on. If you are too self-absorbed to put even a pseudonym to your reviews so an author can respond properly to your misguided rants, I have no sympathy for you. I do not mind negative reviews, so long as they actually review the work and provide something constructive to work with. Look through the reviews on this story and you will see this is true.

I've told reviewers through PMs several times that I'm a right bastard to my characters at times… this chapter for instance is a good example of that. I've been planning this and many more painful things for Lilith to endure for quite some time now. I don't just "kill off" characters for no reason, and even when I do kill them, they may not stay dead (whither or not that is foreshadowing for this story I'm not saying).

I do things I know people will not like… I don't care… but I do have reasons and will eventually share what those reasons are if you pay attention and stick with the tale… and read the Author's Notes at the end.

* * *

Ankou - Breton (Northern France), Welsh (yr Angau) & Cornish (Southern England) mythology - The Ankou (or Ankow) is the henchman of Death (oberour ar maro) and he is also known as the grave yard watcher, they said that he protects the graveyard and the souls around it for some unknown reason and he collects the lost souls on his land. The last dead of the year, in each parish, becomes the Ankou of the parish for all of the following year. When there has been, in a year, more deaths than usual, one says about the Ankou:

– War ma fé, heman zo eun Anko drouk. ("On my faith, this one is a nasty Ankou.")

The Ankou has also been reported as an apparition with long white hair, skeletal features, and black robes, entering the house, it takes away the dead who are then placed in the cart with the help of two ghostly companions.

* * *

Fylgja Fetch (Norse-ish - plural fylgjur fetchi) - spectral double of a living human, a spirit who accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune. Kutsua = Finnish for Call or Summon… Käänteinen = Finnish for Inverse = Kutsua Fylgjur Käänteinen Fetchi = Summon the inverse of the spiritual double…

Look back at my other notes on Mythology if you want to know why I've used these languages and myths…

* * *

For those who forgot… the order of Champions is Fleur, Jamie, Cedric, Viktor, Harriett as determined at the start of the First Task.

If you go back to the chapter "Dancing with Dora" and you will see the following as well…

Dumbledore/Grindlewald submitted 'Jamie Potter' while "An old gnarled man" submitted 'Harriett Potter' to the Goblet of Fire.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	33. February

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 7**_ _ **–**_ _ **February**_

When the results of the Second Task were announced at breakfast the next morning, Kelly was incised on behalf of Lilith; Twelve points. Did they expect miracles from each of the contestants where they could be more aggressive then their own aggression, more cunning than their own cunning, more powerful than their own power, or more knowledgeable than what they've been taught?

Fleur received twenty-eight points for 'attempting the challenge' while Cedric and Viktor each were awarded thirty-six points 'for bravery' while the only challenger to actually succeed at the challenge was given twenty-four points that were then cut in half because she didn't go twice. Kelly was tempted to use some of her powers to reap a few extra souls for her boss, even if her term of service ended thirteen years ago but for the one soul left to collect.

At least Albus and Hjørdis scored each of them fairly. She didn't even know who the pink toad lady was, but Kelly took umbrage with the woman for awarding points so unfairly without even having witnessed the challenge; and what was with that silly comment about water being "the key"?

* * *

Lilith was toying with her quill while eating lunch with Daphne in the Great Hall when Hermione joined them at the Hufflepuff table. What really caught her eye however was the muggle magazine Popular Mechanics laying discarded beside the Runes and Arithmancy books.

"What are you…?"

"Oh… hey Hermione. Just trying to figure out something," the slightly tired looking, raven haired girl greeted her old dorm mate, with a half wave.

"What are you trying to figure out? Can I help?" The bushy haired brunette inquired.

"She's trying to figure out what she created last night," Daphne muttered in a rather disinterested way.

Shocked, Hermione asked, "Created? Spell creation is incredibly dangerous, Lilith! What did you do?"

"Well… I was thinking about the Superconducting Super Collider I had read about last summer…"

"The what?"

"Superconducting Super Collider. Think top end science projects… the Fermi Lab near Chicago, Illinois is currently in operation and the one they were building in Waxahachie, Texas abandoned October '93, which is what this magazine was talking about as well as the proposal from CERN … the European Organization for Nuclear Research… for an even larger facility sited beneath the France–Switzerland border near Geneva…" Lilith shook her head, "Anyway… I was thinking about the magic-technology interference issues, and trying to think of either ways around it or to use magic to duplicate it, and… I don't know what I created."

Hermione took on a shrewd look, "What did you do?"

Lilith scratched the side of her head, "You know the feel of your magic when you cast a spell… how it feels like energy flowing through you that you then shape and use?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well… I used the shaped magic to hold the flowing magic…"

"You what?"

Lilith paused, then picked up a glass of water, "Think of it like this… the water is your magic… you pour it out and use your will to shape it to do what you want, right? So what you want is to form it into a tube… like the one in the tire of your bicycle… where you can put more in using the valve stem… but instead of air you are pouring in magic…"

"Okay… but it would help if you stopped mixing your metaphors…"

"The tube is made of shaped magic while the contents are unshaped magic…" Lilith poured a little water on the table, then started drawing circles with it, "and then you have this circulating in the tube."

"Yeah…"

"Well… unlike the bicycle tube where if you put in too much air it busts… the magic tube can be reinforced or enlarged as you put in more magic…"

"What does that have to do with the super collider?"

"Well… not much really. They use magnets to control the energy flowing through them… kind of like the magic tube… but the rest…" Lilith shrugged.

"Hence the Runes and Arithmancy books," Daphne stated, showing that she had been following the conversation.

Hermione's brow scrunched up, "You created a… power well of some sort? Like a capacitor?"

"As close as I can guess… yes. I've been pouring magic into the tube for hours now… sort of a slow trickle from a water faucet… while my natural recharge is filling me back up normally, I also have this extra magic sitting here ready for shaping, and…"

Hermione nodded, "So how did you make it?"

"Oh… well… that's another reason I'm pouring over these books… I don't know… I did just what I said, but Daphne wasn't able to make one…"

Hermione groaned, then pulled out a sheet of parchment and started writing a letter.

* * *

Albus played through the memory again, not sure what to make of it. The one with the power to defeat the dark lord, though, that needed to be researched thoroughly, and soon. Dashing off a quick letter to Soul Croaker, Fawkes glided over to take the outstretched missive before flaming way in a bright flash of Phoenix Fire. Albus didn't know any other Unspeakables at the moment, but that prophecy had so many double meanings and vague references, he had no idea what Gellert had been thinking it meant, perhaps the next few memories would help provide some clues.

* * *

The egg was really beginning to frustrate Lilith and Daphne. "Water is the Key," but that didn't explain how it fit into the golden egg who's screeching wails when they did manage to open it made them immediately close the thing again.

Lilith was a bit melancholy all day as Valentine's Day cheer spread through the castle. She had a nice, romantic meal with Daphne planned for the evening, to try and take her mind off of everything, and wasn't feeling as physically drained as she had for the past month or so, but it was a year ago that her Godfather had slipped back into Azkaban using her plan, and she knew that the upcoming Sunday, the first Anniversary of Sirius' Death, would be a really bad day for her, she'd probably spend the whole day in bed. She was surprised however when Daphne showed up with another girl she called Valentine, who was dressed in nothing but a black leather mask that concealed all of her features but her long, tightly braided, dark blonde hair; and the evening got more interesting from there.

* * *

Like the first event to build ties between the schools, the Yule Ball, the second event was also aimed at broadening the horizons of the students and showcase the cultures represented in each school through a multi-cultural fair on the last Friday of February.

Each of the House Tables in the Great Hall had been shifted to represent one of the schools present such that the green and silver Slytherin table was not decked out in the scarlet and black of Durmstrang with sections showcasing Romania, Bulgaria, and Germany dominating the faire laid out for the students to try. The Ravenclaw table now sported a deep blue table cloth with silver and gold Fleur-De-Lis embroidered on it and various goods from France, Italy, and Spain showcased with other lesser countries slipped in as well. The Gryffindor table now hosted all sorts of food from the Isles and covered with the colors of all four houses, much to the dislike of some students within the school's normal population. Hufflepuff, however, had been turned over to Salem with their red, black, and yellow tartan covered in foods and trinkets from all corners of the world; be it desserts like Pavlova, Börek, Nanaimo bars, Apple Pie, Lamington, S'mores, Flan or Brigadeiros; to stews and soups like the Shchi, Clam Chowder, Moqueca, Shakshouka, Gumbo and Ramen; to other unique foods like Poutine, Yakitori, Meatloaf, Bobotie, Fried Corn, Enchiladas and a wide variety of Pizzas. In all, there wasn't a continent that wasn't represented in some way somewhere in the mix of the dozen cultures, or so, that attended the school.

It was a rather disappointing day for the girls from the American school, though they were somewhat popular during the event as, unlike the other schools, the witches from Salem would explain what was offered and detail various cultural facts about each dish, while the other schools expected you to either already know or look it up for yourself. Lilith couldn't get enough of the Tomates LangueD'oc that Fleur showed her, though the French champion did say there were many ways to prepare the bread, parsley and cheese stuffed baked tomatoes and even she had to ask one of the elves which version they had prepared for the meal.

Although her stuffy nose was annoying, Lilith was fairly happy, she had more energy, nearly bubbling with it at times, almost no morning sickness anymore and Daphne had surprised her again with her masked friend the night before. Lilith was determined to figure out the other girl's identity, especially as it seemed Daphne was wanting to incorporate Valentine more often into their relationship.

* * *

As the young woman sat in the dark cell, she pondered what had happened to bring her to this situation. The last thing she remembered was eating dinner at Hogwarts with her younger sister while reading a note from her father that her older sister had been banished from the family for defying his will and eloping with a Mudblood. Now she was sitting in the dark, rubbing her clean shorn hair, in little more than a baggy tee-shirt, wondering just what happened. She was scared, but a Black never lets her fear show.

-Author's Notes-

Point Totals: (Sixty points per Task)

Viktor 47, 36 = 83 1st place

Cedric 45, 36 = 81 2nd place

Fleur 43, 28 = 71 3rd place

Lilith 54, 40, 24, 0 = 47, 12 = 59 last place

* * *

Lilith's power capacitor… let's say it's a trickle of 0.1% per hour… that's 2.4% per day or 24% in ten days… power consumption to reinforce/enlarge the capacitor not included… this was created _prior_ to Valentine's Day, which was 10 days before the Multi-cultural Fest or 38 days prior to the Third Task… so she'll have roughly 100% of her normal power sitting in her reserve power capacitor… plus whatever the initial charge required… and building… unless of course she uses it somewhere along the way.

For recovery rates, being magically exhausted would be something like your cellphone's battery hitting the mid-range of yellow on the scale, or about 10% charge remaining… extreme exhaustion would be the red range or less than 5% remaining. Normal exhaustion can be recovered from in less than a day (usually after just a good night's sleep), while extreme exhaustion takes about an extra day to be fully recovered from. In this way, I postulate that recovered would mean about 80% charge (or +70% over the course of a night's sleep… not doing anything else)… this would make the recharge rates 10% per hour while at rest and 2.5% per hour while active (so the remaining 20%-25% would take another 8 to 10 hours in addition to the recover time for any new usage).

I don't quite know just what Lilith is going to do with that just yet… but I wouldn't want to be in front of her when she does… just saying.

* * *

Yes… I already have a canon character for the identity of Valentine… good luck guessing who she is though.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	34. The Third Task

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 8 – The Third Task**_

Lilith growled in frustration and threw the egg across the room. In the last five weeks, since the morons running this tournament told the Champions that 'Water is the Key' to the stupid eggs, she'd spent hours on end trying to figure out what to do… she'd poured water on it, filled it with water, opened it while it was sitting in water, opened it in the pouring rain, nothing worked… it still sounded like a banshee… and that worried her. They've already had dragons and an Ankou here… why not another herald of death? With her luck someone would try to summon Aibell and her attendants… or worse Queen Clíodhna; Lilith shivered at the thought.

That still doesn't explain the water however.

Sighing in defeat, Lilith walked over and laboriously picked the egg up off the floor, her ever expanding waistline was starting to become a bit of a problem all its' own.

* * *

 _ **Unum imperium vincendi genus est per domino obscuro eo quod venturus ...**_

 _ **Qui ter nascetur irritaverunt eum, natus est in septima mensis moritur ...**_

 _ **Et dicet ei quasi domino obscuro eo pari eius,**_ _**sed accipietis virtutem domino obscuro eo non scit ...**_

 _ **Manu alterius uterque morientur in, quia non vivunt nec alterum manet, dum ...**_

 _ **Unum imperium vincendi genus est per domino obscuro eo quod natus est et in septima mensis moritur ...**_

Amelia Bones and Saul Croaker sat in Albus' office staring at the ghostly image of Sybill Trelawney floating above the Pensive, when the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement spoke, "Forgive me gentlemen, but my Latin for more than spell work is a bit rusty. Did that say what I think it said?"

Albus sighed, "If you think it said:

 _ **The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...**_

 _ **Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...**_

 _ **And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ...**_

 _ **And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ...**_

 _ **The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...**_

Then you would be correct."

"Actually, she wouldn't," Saul stated bluntly. "While the non-gendered pronouns in that third line would normally be shifted to masculine, it's still possible for them to refer to a girl as well."

"Meaning?" Amelia wondered, ideas running through her head.

Saul nodded, "I think that would be why the 'other' Dumbledore did what he did to Lady Black."

"Do we tell her?" Madam Bones asked quietly.

Albus shook his head with an emphatic, "No."

Saul, however, looked at each of them and then stated, "Not yet."

"Why?"

"One, does it actually refer to her? Two, which 'Dark Lord' was it referring to… Grindlewald, Riddle, or someone else? Three, the fact that it was given in Latin means that the 'seventh month' is most likely July, but not necessarily certain. Four, are we sure, even now, if we've heard the prophecy correctly?"

"Saul?" Albus queried.

"That line, 'either must die at the hand of the other,' is simple enough to understand… the two will be diametrically opposed to one another and in conflict."

"Yes, they will fight to the death," Albus nodded.

"Not necessarily, but close enough. It's the rest of it is what is puzzling me; 'for neither can live while the other survives.'"

Amelia sat up straighter, "they would have to both be alive in order to fight each other to the death, but only one can be alive at any given time!"

Saul grinned at the DMLE Director, "Are you sure?"

"What?"

"Grindlewald wasn't Grindlewald at the time Lady Black stabbed him to death. If the prophecy referred to him as the 'Dark Lord' then that requirement would be fulfilled. If it means Voldemort, perhaps 'Hand' could refer to one of his agents, rather than him personally." Saul shrugged, "There's also a fifth reason… is the prophecy even still active? Was it fulfilled in 1981 or a few months back?"

The other two sat in shocked silence.

"Right," Saul said, clapping his hands together, "too many questions, not enough answers. You two keep an eye on the girl and my Department and I will take a look into this thing. Besides, knowing why Grindlewald did that to her would be a distraction she can't afford. She seems to have adjusted well in the last two and a half years; even with her current condition. Right now, the 'why' isn't important. Best to keep her focused, right?"

* * *

Having only the History, Social Studies, and Equestrian Studies teachers from their own school available, the girls from Salem had been slotted into the regular classes for Hogwarts; which is why Lilith found herself sitting between Anavrin and Amelia in the back of the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff fourth year Defense Against the Dark Arts class with the _Professor_ screaming at them about Constant Vigilance. Lilith wasn't too sure about the guy. In the less than three months that she'd seen him he's lost nearly twenty pounds, the ugly scaring crisscrossing his face appeared to have worsened, and she kept catching the old pervert staring at her with either his normal dark brown eye or that weird magical blue one. He gave her the creeps.

Today's lesson was just flat sick though. The former Auror spent the first ten minutes of class demonstrating the three Unforgivable Curses on some enlarged Tailless Whip Scorpion Spiders, declaring that the Ministry had issued him a waiver to specifically show the curses to this class, and use the Imperious Curse on them, in order to teach the students what it feels like to be under the curse and how to fight off its' effects. When Lilith, Anavrin and Amelia flatly refused to participate in that portion of the class stating that the Ministry overseeing Salem Witches' Academy had not agreed to the class, nor informed their legal, magical guardians of the demonstration, several other students began to question it as well including a red headed girl ensconced in the middle of the Hufflepuff section and a certain bushy-haired, brunette Gryffindor.

Angry at the 'unruly, obstinate children,' Moody stomped out of the class, slamming a book, _Magical_ _Water-plants of the Mediterranean_ by Hadrian Whittle, on Neville's desk on the way by.

* * *

Daphne and Valentine talked quietly while waiting for Lilith to join them. The raven haired girl had already checked and dismissed so many girls in the school, the 'play toy' knew the green eyed beauty would figure out who she really was soon. Daphne however, knew that Lilith was enjoying the hunt, and needed the distraction from the upcoming task. Neither were really worried about Lilith finding out who Valentine is, but both knew that something bad would most likely happen when Lilith found out _why_ Valentine acts the way she does.

* * *

Since the start of the current term, he'd been avoiding the girl. He'd known that something had happened between them that night in the Headmaster's Office, but for the life of him he hadn't known what. His hatred of her father and fear of the Dark Lord's followers caused him to act a certain way towards her, but she was Lily's daughter, almost identical with messy, black hair. His heart ached every time he looked at her, something else that had driven his anger towards the girl.

There she sat again, carrying his daughter, doing theoretical potions homework so the ingredients wouldn't harm her children. Her sadness flowing off of her in heavy waves to anyone with his level of Legilimency; and that was another thing that didn't make sense. His occlumency should block all but the most powerful of Obliviation… unless he chose to forget something… but why would he do that?

Tomorrow was the Third Task, she couldn't afford to be distracted now… but perhaps after he could persuade her to talk with him in private; but with what happened… that will probably be difficult to get her to agree to.

* * *

The morning of the Third Task, Lilith sat down at the Slytherin table and then turned to Daphne's red-headed roommate, "Tracey… where's Daphne?"

"Don't know. Alex Sykes stopped her in the common room last night and said that Professor Snape needed to speak with her. I haven't seen her since. I was going to ask the Professor after breakfast though."

"I'm not liking this Tracey. I think I know what we're doing for the Third Task, but what if I'm wrong? I'd really like to see my girlfriend again before we start this thing."

"One last kiss for luck?"

"Something like that… ouch."

"What happened? You okay?"

"Yeah… just another sharp pain in my side. Madam Pomfrey said they are normal at this stage."

"How far along are you now?"

"A little over nineteen weeks…" Lilith sighed.

"You're worried aren't you?"

"Yeah."

A short while later, Professor McGonagall stopped behind Lilith and asked her to head down to the docks on the Black Lake.

Lilith froze for a moment, then spun and stared at the Deputy Headmistress, completely at a lose for words as the Transfigurations Mistress walked away.

* * *

Down on the docks, the three other Champions stood, each with vary different attitudes towards the coming task. Viktor was stoic, hiding his true feelings behind his heavy browed scowl. Cedric was cocky in his Gryffindor Quidditch Seeker's uniform. Fleur was a mess, agitated and scared. Lilith was a bit confused by her mumbled words.

At 7:30, they were called before the judges panel for the announcement of the Third Task.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the Third Task of the Tri Wizard Turnament!" Ludo Bagman's voice cried out, "During the First Task our courageous Champions braved fearsome dragons to collect a golden egg… a clue to what this task entails! After the Second Task, they were rewarded with a second clue. Now… now, we gather to see our Champions' cleverness at work! For before us, we will watch as our Champions attempt to recover something precious that was taken from them and hidden in the Black Lake!"

"My sister!" Fleur screamed at him loud enough that she didn't even need a Sonorous charm to be heard by all.

A dark haired man in the audience stood up next to a woman that looked to be Fleur's older sister and cast a Sonorous charm on himself before speaking in a French accented and angry tone, "What 'ave you done, Bagman! My daughters are Veela and this lake belongs to the Merfolk!"

Bagman stuttered for a moment, "But, uh, everything's fine, folks… no harm will come to the hostages… the Champions just need to rescue them within the hour!"

"Hostages?" Lilith asked, "You kidnapped my girlfriend to be part of your sick games?"

"Eh… kidnapped is such a strong word…" Bagman muttered, tugging at his collar, not realizing his words were still being broadcast.

"Je suis not legally allowed into zese waterz," Fleur stated.

Lilith turned to the French girl, "And I'm not medically cleared for this, either. Madam Pomfrey said in the 'Magical Hygiene and You' class second year that I could only swim in the lake in warm weather… somewhere between 25 to 29 degrees… it's 5 degrees out here!"

"Hah… sucks to be you," Cedric commented quietly, to which both girls glared at him.

"You get my daughter out of that lake this instant," Mr. Delacour demanded from his spot in the audience, "Are you _TRYING_ to start another Veela/Undine war AND piss off the French Ministry for Magic?"

A loud cannon blast sounded across the lake, interrupting Fleur's father.

"And they're off!" Bagman cried, "Good luck Champions!"

Cedric and Viktor dove into the water immediately, while Fleur looked torn and Lilith stomped towards the judges.

"You have two minutes to decide who's retrieving my girlfriend and the others before I start cursing you morons!"

"You have to retrieve your missing treasures, Ms. Potter, as stated in the rules," Percy Weasley stated pompously.

Pulling out a copy of the rules, Lilith turned on the arrogant red-head, " _Really_ , the rules don't state anything about _HOW_ I am to retrieve them… or more specifically that I can't use a _proxy_ … so thank you for _volunteering_ Mr. Weasley. You now have 30 minutes to get my girlfriend, Fleur's sister, and whoever the _hell_ else is down there, back here or I start getting _creative_."

"I'm not going to help you cheat, Potter."

"It's not cheating if there are no rules against it, Weasel. Get moving, you're wasting time."

"No."

With a crack of thunder, his seat exploded throwing him into the lake, "Move!"

Percy sputtered and started to return to shore when another strike of magic detonated in front of him, reluctantly he turned and headed into the Lake.

"You are heading down a very Dark path, Lady Black," Albus commented.

Lilith glanced at him, "To save others, it a path I'll walk willingly."

With everyone so focused on Lilith and the judges, no one noticed the man beside Mr. Delacour enter the lake.

* * *

The Bulgarian Quidditch star, Viktor Krum, wasted no time hitting the water when the cannon sounded. Being a shark Animagus isn't normally a very useful skill, but it did help in the icy waters near Durmstrang and for seeking out stolen treasures in the Mer Village at the bottom of the Black Lake. When the French champion screamed about her sister, Viktor knew instinctively just who had been taken for him; yet there was no way Sorin would agree to this, he was completely against having anything to do with this tournament. To his aquatic senses, catching the scent of Veela blood in the water was like turning on a spotlight to point at something below gigantic neon billboards saying, "Here's what you're looking for." In moments, he was rocketing through the water towards the love of his life.

* * *

Cedric Diggory hadn't really thought about the disadvantages of the Bubblehead Charm when he had come up with his strategy for rescuing his Ravenclaw girlfriend, more interested in interrupting her arguments with a good snog than paying attention to what she had to say. Now he was trying to figure out how to deal with the added buoyancy while trying to rescue her, not that it really bothered him much if he failed, he could always find a new girl.

* * *

Percy Weasley was seething with indignation and rage towards that upstart, little tart Potter as he waded deeper into the lake. 'I am the personal assistant for Mr. Crouch, Head of the Department for International Magical Cooperation! I deserve to be treated with respect, not thrown in a lake with who knows what floating in it. Well… when I get out of he-EEP!' His internal ranting was interrupted by the precipitous drop-off of the underwater shelf, resulting in him plunging into the depths of the grindylow infested darkness below.

* * *

When Colonel Tihal Varnik had agreed come with his friend to watch his friend's oldest daughter compete in the Triwizard Tournament, neither of them had known what the Third Task might entail, but both were worried after witnessing the first two. Finding out that the idiots organizing this thing were blatantly disregarding centuries old treaties and international law, not to mention kidnapping and child endangerment, really pissed off the two French officials. Tihal knew the chief of the French Invisibility Task Force would be taking care of Fleur and trusting him to find Gabrielle. He hadn't seen Apolline take off, but had no doubt the Veela mother of two would be raising hell with the Aurors to correct this situation.

Tihal couldn't think about how long it would take for backup to arrive, or what could happen if little Gabbi was hurt, that would just have to be dealt with when it came up. For now, he just had to find and defuse his racial cousins before they do anything stupid to the innocent Veela girl trapped among them. Using a silent _Point Me_ spell to direct him to the youngest Veela in the area, he quickly speed through the water towards the powder-keg this tournament was about to set off.

* * *

Apolline was apoplectic. Her Ministry was refusing to expedite anything, working 'through channels' to get help to her daughter, while the British Ministry sat on its' hands and thwittled its' thumbs. Though her daughter's life was a price too high for her to consider, she was coming to think that a war on Briton might just be what these morons needed to get off their duffs, pull their heads out of the sand, and DO something.

* * *

Finding Sorin Fane wasn't the problem… getting past the merfolk attacking him with spears and tridents was. Viktor tried again, bleeding from a gash on his right flank and puncture to his left fin, he knew this was a dangerous gamble, the damage would make the pain ten times worse, but maybe… just maybe showing the guards that he wasn't a real shark might help. Swimming towards the guards again, Viktor came to a complete stop, narrowly missing a thrown spear.

Sharks have to keep moving in order to breathe, sharks are not built to hold their breath, however as a shark Animagus, this was the equivalent of trying to hold his breath after exhaling all the air in his lungs, then came the fun part, the pain of the transfiguration from shark to human, the sudden shock of chill to the human system that the shark was insulated from, hoping that the guards understood just what he was doing and why, then undergoing the pain of transforming back into his shark form, hopefully successfully, and get moving again… all before he passes out from lack of oxygen in his system.

This sucked.

* * *

Conjuring weights helps Cedric sink into the water in order to search for his 'hostage,' not that he really cared, but this brought up a second issue with the Bubble Head charm, air supply. The Bubble Head charm filters toxins and poisonous gases out of the air, it does absolutely nothing for liquids, so once the air within the bubble was used, he had to quickly resurface to get more.

Oh well, he'd tried, that has to count for something.

* * *

Stephone, the Giant Squid, had been tasked with safeguarding anyone who happened to be in the Black Lake, which is a very fortunate thing for Percy Weasley. After a fast, but fierce, struggle with the pod of Grindylow trying to feast on the poor lad… Stephone pulled the half-drowned boy out of the depths of the lake and pushed him quickly towards the waiting Mediwitch on the shoreline.

* * *

The Merfolk guards were taking turns striking out with their daggers in highspeed passes of the bound Veela girl, laughing at her screams as they drew shallow lines across her body with their blades. Oh, they couldn't kill her yet, they had to wait for the hour to be up first, but there was no way in their minds that this little birdy would be leaving here alive.

What they didn't count on, however was the furious Undine who dropped into their midst and slew them all in an instant, before turning to the scared young girl and gently removing the chains holding her down.

* * *

Dora had Lilith wrapped in a tight hug, while she, Susan, Amelia, and Hermione tried desperately to keep the younger girl from attacking the judges further, allowing Madam Bones and Ms. Hyrenthal to lay into the tournament organizers for crafting this very illegal event.

* * *

When the shark that was Viktor burst out of the water not far from Cedric, the brave new Gryffindor Apparated to shore, not that Viktor cared as he shifted back to human and proceeded to thoroughly kiss his boyfriend.

* * *

Percy Weasley sat itching the scratched, bitten, and clawed skin covered by healing salves as a creature he'd never seen before emerged from the lake carrying two blond girls while the Mer Chieftess and one of her guards carried the other two 'hostages' to shore. He couldn't make out the screeching wail of a conversation, but it was clear the strange creature, with the oversized, solid black eyes, was the one in charge of the group.

"You are interfering with a Ministry sanctioned event! I must insist you return these people to where they were posted at once!" The red head shouted at the group.

The leader turned to the inept idiot and simply said, "No."

Wiping out his wand, Percy fired a _Desmaio_ stunning hex wildly missing his mark, to which Tihal calmly summoned Percy's wand away from the incompetent ministry aid. Not about to submit to this insult, Percy pointed at the Frenchman as the other man's blue-gray scales faded back into his almond colored skin, "You… you're not human! It's illegal for a creature like you to use a wand! The Code of Wand Use of 1631, clause three, clearly states, 'No non-human creature is permitted to carry or use a wand'!"

Tihal turned to the sputtering, stuck up, red headed imbecile, "I am Gendarmerie Nationale Colonel Tihal Varnik, Ministère de la Défense Magique, Française. I suppose you could consider me somewhat similar to your Senior Aurors, though I work on both sides of the Veil of Secrecy. I am an Undine; and your stupid, bigoted, British laws do _not_ apply to me. So shut up."

With a wave of her wand, Fleur silenced the moron before he could say anything else before calmly addressing her father's friend, "Do you realize what you've done?"

"Fleur?" Tihal questioned, not sure what she was trying to say.

"My sister… do you realize what you've done by rescuing her?"

"Possibly prevented a new war, but that's for the councils to work out…"

"No, you idiot! Look into her eyes!" She yelled at him running her hands through her hair in frustration.

"What… you mean… no… that's not possible… no… my wife's going to kill me."

"You think?"

"Maybe the magic won't take hold?" he pleaded desperately.

"It already has! I can sense the bond."

"Merde."

Daphne wasn't sure what Fleur and the fish guy where talking about, she was too wrapped up in the black hared missile that slammed into her as soon as her feet touched the shore streaming incoherent babbling noises intermixed with what sounded like apologies for some reason. Not sure what else to do, and being very cold and wet, she got them both moving towards the castle and hopefully towards a warm bath available there.

* * *

Valentine watched the drama unfolding from the stands, torn about following Daphne and Lilith or just staying put. Not many of her friends knew about her being a 'toy' yet, and she'd chosen to help the beautiful, green eyed girl for herself. She couldn't ask, but desperately hoped, that one of the two of them would figure out her situation and help her. If they didn't, or wouldn't, she wasn't sure how long she would be able to tolerate her own existence.

-Author's Notes-

Point Totals: (Sixty points per Task)

Viktor 47, 36, 46 = 129 1st place

Cedric 45, 36, 33 = 114 2nd place

Fleur 43, 28, 29 = 100 3rd place

Lilith 54, 40, 24, 0, 16, 16 = 75 last place

* * *

I used Google Translate on a phrase by phrase basis for the Latin… I know it sucks, but it's what I have available to me.

* * *

I have been refraining from posting about reviews much… but I thought these should be addressed…

Valentine is a dark blond, not red head... by that I mean she had either very light brown hair with blond highlights or dark honey blond hair with brown low lights... so it appears brown in shadow and blond in brighter lights. She is a canon character of sorts, at least name and appearance wise, and I will reveal who she is and why she'd a "toy" later in fourth year (I'll give you a hint… it has to do with something Neville had to deal with as well).

Guest - Shes waaaaaay too nice a person for all the abuse youre heaping on her. – She's bottling it up… not a good thing… and it will come out later.

Ariaelyne – My apologies for you thinking that I was attempting to completely divorce this story from canon… I'm not… at least not yet.

ThunderSphinx – Lilith could get an abortion… she won't… I don't know about you, but I know a woman that was assaulted almost the same way while she was at work (she wasn't blindfolded). She doesn't blame her son for the acts of his father, nor does Lilith for Draco or Severus. In canon, the one thing Harry wants above all is a family… preferably a large one… but Lilith knows that she wont want to give birth a dozen times (beside the danger and pain involved in that, the thought alone is unappealing).

Adm-frb – Not sure how that happened… Arthur's name is correct in my master file, but I have noticed other mistakes popping up while transferring Word documents into FanFiction's system… it might be my Blacksword font confusing an optical system (this would be used to prevent system corruption on their part). If anyone notices an error, please let me know and I will try to correct it (by the way… that's much easier during the first 90 days after posting). Thanks.

I do plan on reworking a good portion of this story (and correcting errors) but haven't got everything settled on what I plan to do yet… it might even wind up in a separate file. It's been suggested that I bump this story to an M rating… if I do I will definitely be taking a bit of extra time before starting Year 5 to rewrite quite a bit of the previous chapters to include a lot of stuff I left out for the rating… let me know what y'all think.

Everything builds on that which comes before… looking back may help you see the way forward.

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	35. The April Tournament

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 _ **Segment 9 – The April Tournament**_

'Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt… or that the Everlasting had not fixed His canon 'gainst self-slaughter!' Peter thought to himself, hating what his life had become. When Severus and Lucius had cornered him, he'd thought his life was over at that moment, yet when they dragged him inform of their… his… Master… he learned just a small portion of what awaited him in the hereafter; and he was afraid. He was weak… he knew that… but what did they expect of him? Murder? He just didn't think he had it in him. Even if he _had_ betrayed James and Lily… his Master had… but does that mean he'd killed them? No… no, his _Master_ did… he…

"WORMTAIL!"

"C-c-coming Master!"

* * *

Valentine sat at breakfast pondering the two girls she 'played' with, wondering if she should tell them more about her. Strictly speaking she wasn't forbidden to tell them, but such things were not talked of normally and Lilith… Lilith would be _furious_ to say the least. Would it accomplish anything though? The contract couldn't be broken, and after sitting her OWLs at the end of the year, she would probably never see either of them ever again. Was it worth the pain? Should she end it now, _before_ Lilith finds out who she really is… _what_ she really is?

Daphne had a pretty good guess, but even she didn't know the whole truth of the matter… what would her blond lover do?

Valentine shook her head and headed to class, her dorm mates never the wiser of her troubled thoughts.

* * *

He just couldn't do it.

How do you apologize for something like that? Something so life altering that he'd wiped it from his own mind.

And yet… now she was forced to come back here, to the place of her anguish, to the people that tormented her, and share her daughter with him, one of the men who had taken so much from her… all because his grandparents wanted the girl's daughter.

He'd help, it's the least he could do, but he'd help from a distance. The Wizengamot said he had to be part of his daughter's life, but not how large of one. Perhaps he could work with that, and earn some small measure of forgiveness from the one whose eyes she bares.

Though she deserves so much more.

So much more…

* * *

April saw the formation of a tournament all its' own, with teams of three drawn from at least two schools competing for a 300 Galleon grand prize, 150 Galleons to second place, and 75 Galleons to third and fourth place, judged by the four Champions. With over twenty teams competing, it took three weeks to whittle them down to the final four teams.

Lilith was happy the scoring was set by more than just the capricious nature of the judges, with the student's year group weighing for or against a team as well; which is why Daphne, Amelia, and Hermione's team score was +0, all being fourth years, the Weasley Twins had Gabrielle Delacour as their third for a team score of -1, the +3 of the first year offsetting the -2 for each of the sixth year students. Lilith was sure the fact that she was partially fireproof and could throw fireballs without a wand had nothing to do with it. With a ten minute time limit, teams were awarded three points for each disabled opponent, and one point for each team member still standing at the end of the bout, the matches almost always came down to points for victory. Though that trend had been waning during the last round. The 'Judges' really only had to keep time, keep the combatants within the boundaries of the dueling wards, and enjoy the show.

This semifinal match should be good.

Amelia's _Lahab Alsahra'_ , Arabian desert flame, paired with Daphne's _Thrafstíras Págou_ , Grecian ice crusher, and Hermione's _Fulgura Percutiens_ , or lightning strike, blitzkrieg spell combo had quickly knocked out the Creevey brothers last round leaving Zri Ahyeh of Salem alone to face the three fourth years, but Zri still made a good showing by taking out Hermione before going down, showing that sometimes having too many options leads to delays and defeat. Now the prankster twins, with their battle potions and fireworks, near telepathic communication and coordination, and impressive array of charms and jinxes, backed by the charms prodigy that is the French Champion's little sister, who probably knows more charms than Lilith does, was facing off against the trio.

Lilith was sure most of the potions being thrown about where of the twins' own creations, as she watched one splatter across Amelia's shield and freeze in place to block one of Hermione's spells before exploding in a burst of flaming shards that started sparkling like fireworks and emitting an odd pink smoke. Daphne then used a wind gust spell to turn the sleeping gas of their own potion back on them, taking out Gabrielle while the twins put up bubble head charms. Once more Hermione's overwhelming knowledge base proved her undoing as she shielded for a spell she thought she knew based on color and speed, but found out that she was wrong, resulting in Amelia getting tagged down and Hermione getting flustered and taken out as well. The twins won in the end, though George wasn't sure he'd be able to sit right for a while and Angelina was glaring at Daphne for some of the Ice Queen's targeted ice magic attacks.

After kissing her girlfriend in consolation of her defeat, Lilith got ready to watch the next bout.

Petra Zaiet, the youngest student, and only girl, from Durmstrang, had joined up with Sarah Frost, the quarter elf, archer from Salem, and the second year Hufflepuff, Haruka Endoh to make the most diverse team in the tournament, were to face off against Oliver Poliakoff, Viktor's best friend, and seventh year Miraphora Mina of Gryffindor, their team's third member, first year Nigel Wolpert of Gryffindor was simply there to bring the team score down and possibly distract their opponents for a moment.

Like the twins' use of battle potions, Miraphora used battle runes as her primary attack method, but also for defense. The first thing she did was activate a shielding ward on herself and Nigel, while Poliakoff launched a stunning barrage of spells at the three girls they were facing. Zaiet, knowing that Poliakoff would likely start of that way conjured a thick, solid wall to block the spells while Sarah created her magical bow and started shooting spells like arrows that would magically curve around her team's defenses to strike her targets, and little Haruka, showing off her Japanese heritage to apply the _Zerasu Farankusu_ , or Zelas Phalanx, to enhance Sarah's attacks and rain a hail of unending bolts down upon Miraphora's wards.

Nigel's _Lumos Maxima_ had no effect as Sarah was using her _Mage Sight_ to target her enemies _through_ the wall. Miraphora started tossing unstable rune clusters over the wall like magical grenades, only to have them bounce back from Petra's shields. Poliakoff, facing dozens of spells in the form of Sarah's arrows and also the rebounding runes, was forced to retreat behind Miraphora's defenses and try to come up with a new strategy on the fly.

When time was finally called, neither team had managed to breach the other's defenses resulting in a +1 to -3 victory on team scores going to the three girls over the pair of seventh years.

After a two hour break for lunch, everyone returned to watch the finale, happy to see that all four schools were represented in the two teams.

The three girls started with the same defensive wall and arrow barrage they had used against Poliakoff and Miraphora, the method was effective and since the twins had shown so little in the way of defense so far in the tournament they saw no need to shift away from it unnecessarily. Surprisingly, Gabrielle's Veela heritage allowed her to craft a sort of fiery wall to block many of the arrows Sarah was firing at them. The twins then utilized more of their multi-stage potions to drop attacks through the shields on the other side of Petra's wall, causing Haruka to redirect her magic enhancing abilities to the Russian girl instead of the part elf. With the weakening of the girls' offense, Gabrielle was allowed to increase her own raining fireballs down on Petra's wall, cracking and finally shattering it. That victory was short lived however, as a pair of arrows streaked through the newly formed gap to strike the twins as they high-fived each other, knocking both unconscious; Gabrielle soon followed.

"Right… no more celebrating…" one twin said rubbing his head as he sat up.

"Until after victory…" finished the other, still laying on his back.

Sarah shook her head at the twins, "That's not why you lost. Celebrate away… just keep your guard up."

Both twins grinned at her, "Cheers!"

The students from all four schools were excited by the possibilities of the various branches of magic displayed during the tournament, sparking new ideas for future endeavors and collaborations with their friends from other schools.

Nearly everyone had fun, Lilith reflected, noting the sour faces on both Malfoy, who'd teamed with Crabbe and Goyle and lost in the first round to Zri, and the youngest Weasley boy, who had refused to 'aid the enemy' by teaming up with another school. How Draco managed to stay at Hogwarts after transferring to Durmstrang, she didn't know; although she had seen Snape arguing with the Highmaster about something… perhaps that was it.

* * *

Courage of facing the unknown, Wisdom of facing themselves, Cunning to rescue their loved ones, and Strength to persevere were the four tasks of the tournament when hosted at Hogwarts, each task associated with a different House. The man sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom pondered each of the tasks so far and how to aid his Master's chosen to victory.

The girl had killed a dragon, embraced her darkness, and outsourced the rescue… he'd laugh if it wasn't his own life on the line in the face of his Master's displeasure.

How was he to overcome the judges' bias though? She was over fifty points out of first place, to have even a chance the boys would have to utterly fail while she made a perfect score, unless…

It was risky… very risky… but what's life without a little risk?

* * *

"Friendship is one thing, but this!" ranted the grey haired man in his private study, throwing the Daily Prophet down, "She's bringing shame upon the family." Snatching the front page back up to glare his eldest daughter kissing 'Lady Black' in the Great Hall of Hogwarts he growled. "Customs be damned… Astoria can continue the line. Lord Malfoy's been looking for a contract, he can get _her_ from the Dragon and negotiate for the younger."

* * *

The girl sat in darkness, legs crossed in meditation.

She despised the darkness and the ones that trapped her within it.

She knew they were there, always there, always watching.

She had no idea how long she'd been there, or who was holding her captive, but it mattered little, she had to be ready, her sisters needed her to protect them from their father and especially his crazy wife… she refused to call that woman her mother any longer. She'd delved deeper into the family magics than anyone else, except maybe Aunt Cassie; studied and locked the knowledge away in her mind for review at times like this.

Moving to a corner of her dark cell to attempt to preserve what little dignity those watching her left to her, she curled up about her hand to relieve the magical build up again… she felt sullied, but soon, she'd figure out a way to escape and strike back at them.

When she got out of here… not _if_ , when… she would make whoever put her in here pay dearly.

-Author's Notes-

Point Totals: (Sixty points per Task)

Viktor 47, 36, 46 = 129 1st place

Cedric 45, 36, 33 = 114 2nd place

Fleur 43, 28, 29 = 100 3rd place

Lilith 54, 40, 24, 0, 16, 16 = 75 last place

* * *

The first line of this section is from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette…

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	36. The Fourth Task

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

 ** _Segment 10 – The Fourth Task_**

Draco sat among the Durmstrang students largely forgotten by everyone else within Hogwarts, a recent letter from his father let him know that, while he hadn't been disowned (yet), his father had contracted two girls from the Black Dragon Tavern in Knockturn Alley to provide a replacement heir as soon as possible. The current Malfoy Heir didn't know what he could do about it, but he knew his life had gone to hell because of that slag Potter. He couldn't legally touch her, but that still left a lot of possibilities on the table… provided one had the funds for such things. He really needed to check on his accounts within Gringott's, things could be even worse than his father's letter lead him to believe.

* * *

Lilith was starting to curse stairs, especially the moving ones. While her expanding waistline isn't slowing her down to much yet, it was throwing off her balance, and since the _moron_ in charge of _safety_ decided _handrails_ were _unnecessary_ since the slick, marble, shoulder-height banisters were there to serve that function and hundreds of teenagers scrambling to get to classes or go eat couldn't _possibly_ bump into one another; accidentally on-purpose, or not. Madam Pomfrey said walking up and down the stairs everyday would help strengthen the muscles used during delivery; and even if that wasn't supposed to happen until mid-August by the Mediwitch's calculations, Lilith needed to mount the stairs regularly even now. Never mind that her feet hurt, her ankles were swollen, her stomach was bigger than a basketball, her breasts were swollen and tender, her back ached, and Merlin the smells… she didn't even have names for half the things she smelled throughout the castle.

The reason for this particular trip down the stairs however… was Snape.

As much as she'd rather not have anything to do with him, she had to… besides he needed to know what she'd picked out to name her daughter by him… stupid court orders. The man scarcely even looks at her anymore, and hasn't spoken a word to her in over four months, he obviously wants as little to do with her and her daughters as she wants with him. She had no idea how this would ever work out.

She arrived at his office door and knocked, somewhat nervous and yet very annoyed that he had yet to acknowledge her since the trial.

"Enter," the silky voice of one of the men she despised drawled lazily.

Lilith slipped into the office, hardly even noticing the heavily encumbered shelves of potions ingredients and books lining the walls as she glared at the man, "You've been avoiding me."

"I have." Snape said simply, "I thought it better to let you be. I…" he trailed off into silence.

"You what?"

"I would like to apologize. I do not know what happened that night, but the results speak for themselves."

"Why should I believe you?"

"You more than likely never will, I…" he shook his head, "I am a master of the mind arts, I don't forget _anything_ , and yet have no memory of that night. I would suspect Obliviation but for two reasons: one… it would have to be exceedingly strong, and I know of only three people that might have been able to do so… and two of those are dead; and two… my idiot of a Godson is bragging about what he did to you, though it could all be boastful blustering on his part. The only other option is that I removed those memories from myself."

"Why would you do that?"

"I… loved your mother once. If your hair was lighter you would look exceedingly like her. What happened between me and her is unimportant right now, and what occurred between the two of us… I am deeply regretful… though I can never make it up to you."

"You're right, you can't. What you took from me, you know you'll have to answer to my parents for later right? I never understood your anger at me for looking like my father in first year, then after the change you kept hating me but it wasn't as specific anymore… once I left, I had hoped never to set foot here or see you again. Then I'm summoned back for this stupid tournament… did you have a hand in that too?"

"I did not."

"Doesn't matter. This thing was designed for individuals to compete and somehow I was supposed to do everything twice. The First Task was doable that way, the Second couldn't be, the Third? I don't know… I know Daphne was down there, was there someone else down there for me as well?"

"McLaggen."

Lilith huffed a laugh at that, "I'd have left him anyway. The clue, as they told the crowd there, was some THING we champions would MISS most. My girlfriend is not a thing, and I'd certainly not miss that fool."

"You wanted to see me about something; I assume it was not the tournament."

"I decided on names for my daughters."

Snape nodded for her to continue.

"Charis Eirene Slytherin of the line of Snape."

"Prince."

"Prince?" Lilith asked, not sure what House he was referring to, or why.

"My grandparents on my mother's side, she'll have fewer problems without my name to worry about. Why Slytherin?"

"I figured Malfoy would hate being associated with Hufflepuff and leave my other daughter alone, yet wanted them both to be as equal as possible… thus Slytherin."

"And the other's name?" Snape asked with a smirk.

"Valerie Kyriessa Hufflepuff of the line of Malfoy."

Snape nodded approval, "Charis Eirene?"

"Grace and peace."

"I like it, and I hope she will have that as well… however, I would prefer she not know I was her father."

Lilith cocked her head curiously, "Why?"

"What I did to you… was wrong. We've both been ordered to be part of her… Charis' life, and if she knows…"

"She will."

"I… I won't stop you from telling her, but I ask you to consider how it will affect her… how it will affect her friends… and we'll still both have to be part of her life." He looked away, "I'll keep my distance… act like a godfather or something… that way she will know me but she'll be yours. I'll help as much as you'll let me, but I won't push. I must warn you though," he looked at her sharply to make sure she was listening, "my grandfather has already tried to wrest some control of Charis from you. I believe that is why you were forced to have me in your daughter's life as well. Be very wary of him."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Was there anything else?"

"No."

"Thank you for letting me know her name."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Hermione sat alone at a table in the library working on homework or some random, annoying project she'd cooked up with Jamie probably, Ron thought as he peered at her through the stacks of books hiding him from her view.

At the start of the year, Ron would deal with his urges thinking about Hermione and all the ways he wanted to shut the brainiac up; and being able to see her while he worked on those urges always helped, but now he couldn't get Jamie out of his head. There was just something about her being pregnant that drove his fantasies wild.

Perhaps that was why his dad enjoyed his mom being in that state so much, resulting in so many kids.

He always did get on with Jamie so much better than he did with Hermione, even if they haven't really spoken much in almost two years; but hey, he could probably talk her into it, right? She's obviously already done it with one bloke, she wouldn't turn him down. Maybe even both of them, yeah, Jamie and Hermione, that would be awesome.

Ron was so lost in his head that he never saw the disgusted looks from the other people in the room or Madam Pince approaching until the stern librarian grabbed him by the ear and dragged him to her desk, summoning Professor McGonagall along the way.

* * *

"We've observed your Courage, seen your Wisdom, witnessed your Cunning, now it is time to view your Resolve," Percy declared glaring at Lilith.

Ludo picked up the next part of the instructions, "We've set up a special dueling ward in the Great Hall, one at a time you will cast your best defensive spell and students will attempt to break it. The wards will count the number and strength of the strikes required to breach your defense and your points will be awarded based on the results."

"You mean there's actually a basis for points this time?" Lilith asked shocked.

Percy barked her, "You only get one spell, so make it good and put everything you have into it."

"How… never mind this tournament makes no sense anyway," Lilith muttered.

"The order of contestants is the same," Hjørdis stated calmly, "so you are up first, Ms. Delacour."

Fleur pushed her long, silvery-blond hair over her shoulder and stepped up on the central platform, drawing her wand and facing the long line of students waiting to try breaking her shield. Taking a deep breath to center herself to cast, " _Absolu Éviter_ ," she said determinedly, causing an iridescent sphere to form on the tip of her wand and expand to envelope her. Then the barrage began.

Lilith started counting seconds as the first spell struck, unable to determine just how many spells were striking at once. The iridescent bubble started to shimmer violently and fail after about thirty seconds and failed by forty. For a single defensive spell it was quite interesting, though, as it completely encompassed the caster, she was not sure if Fleur would have been able to cast from within or leave the sphere behind to fight; definitely something she planned to ask the French Champion soon.

Taking Fleur's place on the stage, Lilith quickly cast an _Aster Apsis_ defensive wall. Although her own research into her mother's shield had not overcome the deflection issues of her own spells passing through the wall, she had discovered that the curvature of the line inscribed when casting the spell would determine the 'front' thus making the deflection on the convex side greater than that on the concave side of the line, meaning that for greatest effect the ends of the line should be further away from the caster than the center. As a wall, there is the possibility for spells to curve around it, though the set up of this particular test made this form of shield just as effective as Fleur's sphere.

When the barrage recommenced, the Madam Maxime halted the test after the first spell, saying that the shield had been penetrated, however Hjørdis countered that the spell had been defected away from the target, making the shield a viable choice. Percy Weasley wanted Lilith to lose, Highmaster Karkaroff didn't really care, Albus supported Ms. Hyrenthal, and Bagman wanted a good show, so the test was allowed to continue. After ten minutes, not one spell had come within five feet of Lilith, and the judges had decided to halt the test again, deciding to award the girl full points for an 'impregnable' defense.

A quick _Apoluo_ later Lilith stepped off the stage to be replaced by Cedric Diggory.

The NEWT level _Protego Totalum_ charm that Cedric cast caused the air to ripple and wave like the heat disturbances over an open flame. It was interesting to see the differences between the standard shield spell and this area effect version, Lilith would have assumed Fleur's sphere would have been a closer variant of the basic defensive spell. It did fail faster, lasting only about twenty seconds, but Lilith had no idea how many or how strong the various spells used were.

Viktor quickly took the stage casting _Rétegez Kórterem,_ or the 'Layered Ward' causing a wall of honeycomb like hexagons to form between him and the students. Lilith was reminded somewhat of Pong, a video game she had once played in the library of her primary school before her cousin Dudley ruined yet another of her hideaways, as each spell chipped away at the wall, slowly eroding a hole. For a defensive spell to allow the caster a change to escape it was a good choice, though being opaque meant that neither side would be able to tell what the other was doing.

Lilith surprised everyone by stepping onto the stage again as Viktor stepped down, nonchalantly saying that she had another spell she wanted to test. The _Frouró Aspída Kai Aporrófisi_ summoned a dozen small glowing disks that began orbiting her, swiftly intercepting every spell aimed at her and slowly growing with each impact until, at some unknown triggering point, a disk would split forming two disks from the one previous and both would continue the defense. The 'Absorption Shield' took a lot of power to cast and was a bit unwieldy in her opinion for a combat spell, though once cast it was very effective. Once again, the judges halted the test after ten minutes and awarded her full marks for another impregnable defense; much to Percy's consternation.

Professor Flitwick quickly approached Lilith for more information on this new shield, but unlike the Aster Apsis, she wasn't quite ready to share this creation.

That evening, after the spell counts and power totals calculated, the points were awarded to each of the Champions. The over all standings did not change; Viktor was still in first, followed by Cedric, then Fleur, and finally Lilith, though the separation between each of them dropped precipitately so that Lilith was only thirty-five points behind Viktor instead of having less than half of his score.

* * *

Working in the greenhouses with Professor Sprout was almost as good for Neville Longbottom as a pure meditation to anyone else. 'Playing in the dirt,' as his grandmother would call it, was not a fit career for someone with his family's long history of law enforcement, but Neville just didn't feel like he was destined to be an Auror like both his parents had been. After working with Motherwort and Lady's Mantel all day, his thoughts turned to the girl he'd broken a Betrothal Agreement with.

Her life has never been simple, but he'd often wondered if he'd done the right thing ending that agreement, not for himself, but for her. She still had to deal with the political ramifications of all those Houses on her own, and though she could now double up on what houses her children could inherit, that still meant that she would have to have at least three more; and with the laws as they are, more likely six or seven more.

Should he offer to write up a new agreement with her? He knew she had a girlfriend, he liked Daphne as well, and he didn't want to interfere with the two of them, but he knew she could use the help; especially as she hadn't been taught about everything she would soon need to know.

He was torn… he just wanted to help, but wasn't sure how to offer that help yet.

* * *

Dora handed her boss the report on the Fourth Task to her boss, Amelia Bones.

"Anything interesting in here?" The Director asked.

The pink haired Auror nodded, "Delacour, Diggory, and Krum did what you expected them to, and about as well, averaging about thirty spells to a breach; but you'll want to take a look at Black's spells. I asked her about the hex she used first, and she claims that even the Unforgivables are 'deflected' by the spell; not blocked mind you, just redirected away. She taught that one to Professor Flitwick and has offered to show us as well. The second one, however, she called a 'point defense' charm, and she refuses to share it right now. She claims it absorbs any spells it blocks, adding that power to the shield to increase your defense, and from what I saw of it, I say it does exactly that; though I don't know if that spell would have any effect on the Unforgivables, I'd kind of doubt it."

"Did you ask in an official capacity or as her adoptive sister?"

"Not really either, Ma'am. Professor Flitwick asked, I merely added that I'd like to know as well. It's possible that a direct request could receive a different answer, but she seemed a bit… reluctant to even talk about it. Knowing her as I do, I'd think the basis of the absorption would be considered dark magic, and she doesn't want to confirm that and get in trouble somehow."

"You may be right. Merlin! It blocked over a thousand spells? I'll have to speak with Croaker and see about making an exemption for this spell… if she'll agree to share it with us, even if we'd have to take an oath not to pass it on… this could be a massive boon to our work."

"We don't know what the spell is truly capable of yet, nor do we know any of the drawbacks, if any, but I would agree with you on that."

"Go talk to her. Don't promise anything on our end, and I doubt you could extract a promise from her if she was that cagey with Flitwick, but do sound her out. See what she would need to have before she would share that spell with us."

"Right away, Ma'am."

* * *

Daphne pulled Lilith into an unused classroom where Valentine was waiting. As the door closed the older girl took off her mask and turned to the other two, "We need to talk."

-Author's Notes-

Point Totals: (Sixty points per Task)

Viktor 47, 36, 46, 41 = 170 1st place

Cedric 45, 36, 33, 52 = 165 2nd place

Fleur 43, 28, 29, 49= 149 3rd place

Lilith 54, 40, 24, 0, 16, 16, 60, 60 = 135 last place

* * *

I'm working on another story that will be very different from this one… if you're interested in seeing a bit of what it might be like, check out the HP Writing Ideas I posted. I'll add other ideas to that file later, but I've been writing a lot on the story about the 'Thing Under the Stairs'. Hopefully y'all will like it (already over 14k words and not even to Hogwarts yet).

Unlike JP&TAWC I'm going to write the bulk of that story before posting it… though I might do a year by year approach… haven't truly decided yet. This write a chapter and post it thing works okay, but as the story evolves I can't go back and add stuff I've thought of that would be cool to add, but would have effected or at least needed to be shown earlier in the story. So yeah… y'all are missing out on stuff.

I will more than likely re-write this entire story at some point, though with the new story I'll probably hold off until after this one is complete before doing so.

I expect the first part of the new tale (currently titled the Thing Under the Stairs) will probably be posted this summer… if you have any suggestions for a different title, drop it in a review on the HP Writing Ideas… 'The Letter' will be part of the story as well, though some of the details have been altered.

* * *

If you are interested in the spells used this time… Fleur's _Absolu Éviter_ charm is French for Total Ward… Viktor's conjured _Rétegez Kórterem_ is Romanian and means Layered Ward… Cedric's _Protego Totalum_ charm is what Hermione and Harry used in book seven during the Horcrux Hunt… Lilith's _Aster Apsis_ hex or Star Shield is the same one she used in year two (released with _Apoluo_ ), and the new _Frouró Aspída Kai Aporrófisi_ 'point defense' charm means Absorbing Sentry Ward (when very poorly translated)… both are in Greek.

Yes, the _Aster Apsis_ is a defensive hex… though it acts more like a jinx if you're looking up the spell types… you don't have to maintain eye contact and it makes for a fairly annoying effect. The fact that it is cast on the ground between the caster and the target could see it placed in the charms category, but it really doesn't fit there as it is not adding anything to the target but the area above it… it's also not changing the target so transfiguration or conjuration are also removed as possible categories.

As for the Absorbing Sentry Ward being dark… it 'steals power' from others, though it could be argued that by throwing magic at someone else you are 'giving' that magic to them… it's all semantics really. The things you learn when you go spell-crafting…

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


	37. The Maze

Summery – Tournament Troubles … Terror awaits the rising wrath of a Black!

 _Disclaimer_ _–_ _J.K. Rowling, I am not_ _…_ _there are some direct quotes, some mixed quotes, and some indirect quotes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in this, but I did try to make it fun to re-read what you_ _'_ _ve probably read before if you_ _'_ _re reading Harry Potter fanfiction._

Segment 11 – The Maze

* * *

Alice Tolipan sat with Daphne Greengrass quietly discussing Valentine's contract with the Black Dragon Tavern, and the best way to tell Lilith about it when the former Gryffindor arrived in their little used, out-of-the-way hidey hole of a classroom. The fifth-year Hufflepuff prefect tried to stop the conversation before the new comer to the room heard what the two of them had been discussing, but the Slytherin wouldn't let her get away with that.

Daphne quickly stepped out to grab Lilith and pull her into the room. Knowing that she couldn't put this off any longer Alice put her mask in her lap and turned to face the girls she loved, sadness radiating off of her like the desert heat at high noon, "We need to talk."

Five minutes, and two passionate kisses with her girlfriends later, the young pregnant witch was waddle-marching off to the Owlery with a fire burning in her eyes to send a note to her lawyer/guardian to purchase a business in Knockturn Alley along with all _assets_. She didn't care what the price was, but she now had a goal in mind to throw her, supposedly considerable, political capitol behind eliminating.

* * *

After the twelfth meeting in two weeks following the Fourth Task, Lilith was getting rather annoyed with the DMLE, DoM, ICW, and just about everyone else in the Wizarding World who wanted to know every little detail of her shield spells; not that she was telling anyone anything they could use with regards to the Absorbing Sentry Ward. The meetings would probably have gone much better if the Ministry hadn't sent a certain pink toad to every one of them threatening and harassing Lilith at every turn. After the seventh meeting, Lilith walked out when the point defense spell was brought up, and for the last two 'meetings' she departed as soon as Madam Umbridge arrived… and now she was heading towards yet another of these useless things.

She had better things to do, like class.

A brief flash of pink near the door saw Lilith turning and waddling away; being six months pregnant with twins, however, sucked for moving quickly.

"Ms. Black, where are you going?" behind her the voice of Professor Sprout asked.

"That way," Lilith replied waving vaguely in front of her, without bothering to turn around.

Sprout scoffed, "The meeting for the final event of the tournament is in here."

Lilith sighed and turned around scowling at the professor, "If… _Umbridge_ … asks about my spells again, one of us is leaving."

The meeting room was on the sixth floor of the Astronomy tower in a seldom used conference room with large bay windows overlooking the grounds, the grey stone walls bleached nearly white added to the feel of space surrounding the rich mahogany table and elegant chairs that each sported the crest of Hogwarts in vibrant colors using metals and stone. Lilith loved the room and was planning to bring Daphne and Hermione here for future study sessions.

"So the little delinquent finally shows her face," the simpering voice of the pink toad verbally sneers at Lilith as she approaches the table.

"I would be careful about saying such things about myself in public, Delores. People may take your self-incriminations seriously," the pregnant Heiress, who was in fact a couple inches taller than the 'Senior' Undersecretary, returned smoothly.

"Enough!" Albus said before anyone else could interject, "We have assembled here today to reveal the nature of the last event of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Would the Champions please approach the windows. As you can see below, the Quidditch pitch has been altered into a magical hedge maze that the four of you will need to navigate through, and overcome the various obstacles, puzzles, and traps liberally distributed throughout, in order to locate and obtain the Tri-Wizard Cup. The first Champion to retrieve the Cup from its' pedestal, will be declared the winner."

Bagman then put in, "You will be starting in order of your current placement in the rankings at thirty seconds per point intervals. That means Mr. Krum starts first, followed by Mr. Diggory two and a half minutes later, then Ms. Delacour eight minutes after him, and finally Ms. Potter…"

"Black."

"… seven minutes after her. Questions?"

"Seventeen and a half minutes before the girl who will be, at that point, about seven months along begins to attempt the event. Is there really even a point to me participating at that point?"

"We're anticipating the course to take around two hours to complete, at minimum. There are multiple paths through the maze, but not all of them will lead where you want to go; and do keep in mind that the maze itself can shift about a good deal while you are in there. Any of you have the potential to win still; so, don't give up simply because you start off a bit later than someone else," Professor McGonagall said calmingly, "Anything else?"

"Has anything been discovered as to how I was entered into this tournament?"

McGonagall sighed and shook her head. Lilith was surprised that Umbridge hadn't issued forth that insufferable 'hem, hem' once yet and deigned to glance at the woman to see her glaring at Albus, obviously trying to talk with no sound coming out. Lilith chuckled and left the room as Cedric asked Professor Sprout about the hedges themselves.

* * *

Peneus couldn't believe his luck. He'd negotiated Timothy Selwyn into buying his eldest step-daughter's contract for a rather higher sum than he'd been expecting from the deal he had no intentions of walking away from; granted it had taken over a month of haggling back and forth over the price, but that had been mostly for show. Even though she couldn't technically 'work' until she'd sat her OWLs, he was certain her 'training' this summer would see the end of that disgusting relationship with that filthy Potter girl.

Now he just had to use today's lunch meeting with Lucius to betroth his 'daughter' to the Malfoy Heir, and his lawyer's carefully worded contract should pass the wily Slytherin's inspection to lock Astoria into doing exactly as her future husband wishes. They'll be no chance of his other step-daughter following in her older sister's ungodly footsteps.

Slipping out of the Dragon and quickly moving away, Peneus barely noticed, let alone recognized, the other lawyer he used from time to time heading in the opposite direction.

* * *

Albus sat in his office rubbing his temples to ward off the worst of his pounding headache. Impersonating Gellert's version of himself was but surprisingly easy and incredibly hard. His old lover had obviously gone insane but managed to cover it well as simply being eccentric. Trying to ween the image he'd created that he absolutely despised Lilith in public was becoming more difficult the longer he studied the pensive memories they'd found in the Headmaster's Office; it was almost as if they were trying to supplant his own feelings toward the young heiress.

Thankfully the end of the tournament was upon them and he'd be able to take a vacation soon, he really needed a break.

* * *

Eighteen-degree temperatures (low sixties for Americans) and thunderstorms awaited the four champions as the 24th of June wound down to the start of the final event and Salem once again proved the organizers to be morons by providing large enchanted mirrors for the Great Hall of Hogwarts that would display an over the shoulder view of each champion's progress that spectators could observe instead of simply staring at the hedges; without having to deal with the torrential downpour outside either. So while the judges waited all nice and cozy up in the castle, only Percy Weasley was in the Champion's Tent to send them off into "The Maze;" as Bagman put it using air quotes and everything.

The castle's clock tower rang out with the reverberating gongs of six o'clock post-meridian and Percy waved Viktor out of the tent to start his journey through the maze. A couple minutes later a chime went off altering them it was not the sneering Diggory's turn to venture forth. Lilith chatted with Fleur about nothing, distracting both of the girls from their own impending chimes ringing in the otherwise silent tent. No sooner had the Veela Champion slipped out of the tent, Percy collected the few things he'd had out and made to depart himself.

"Oh, so I can go anytime now?"

"What? No. The entrance is warded so the champions can't open it on their own."

"Then where are you going?"

"What business of yours is that?"

"Ah… so you are deliberately attempting to interfere with the tournament then… I hope you're ready for the consequences."

"Don't be silly. Nothing is going to happen to me; you on the other hand…"

"Well… you're wrong there. Me being here is enough to say I've participated… especially as it is the representative of the ministry and judges of the tournament that is preventing me from moving onward. Your actions jeopardize not only your own magic, but that of Minister Fudge, Minister Oblansk, Vice-Minister Delacour, Bartemius Crouch, Ludo Bagman, Headmaster Dumbledore, Highmaster Karkaroff and Madam Maxime as well since they are the signatories on the contract for this tournament; and perhaps others as well. As I'm pretty sure all of them are currently in the Great Hall watching you abandoning your post to trap me here on the live displays my school so generously provided… I don't think you'll find yourself very welcome in the castle."

The fear in Percy's eyes showed that he didn't know if she was right or not, but he definitely didn't want to find out if he was wrong. With a hate filled glare he returned to the maze side exit and waited for the final chime to sound.

* * *

Had Percy realized just how much trouble that little stunt had landed him in with the people in the Great Hall, he would have quickly walked into the maze himself, swiftly walked to where he knew there was a sphinx waiting for the champions, and purposely answered it's riddle wrong. Fortunately for him, Minister Fudge was writing out Percy's immediate transfer orders to the ministry's arctic research facility, complete with touch activated Portkey, so the twerp would only have to endure his mother's screeching rant for about thirsty seconds before the minister's little, puce green, paper airplane arrived and he was blissfully swept off to frigidly the cold climes he'd once called the seventh circle of hell… but now called heaven because he knew, from various reports he'd had to write, that owls could not reach this location… which means his mother couldn't send him any Howlers.

* * *

The maze consisted of ten-foot-high walls of various types of magical shrubbery… including Devil's Snare, Snargaluff, and Fire Seed Bushes… and that's just what Lilith could see from the entrance. Of course, it's what those hedge walls concealed that were the real problems, considering Hagrid's bent for unusual pets and the tournament organizer's utter stupidity with regards to the danger posed by the creatures they've chosen to include so far, anything could be lurking within the rain drenched, shadowy pathways.

Lilith decided to give the tentacle waving tree stump a pass and threw a line of blue-bell flames along the Devil's Snare path to start off, carefully watching the shivering plant as she made her way past the constricting vines. A faint golden aura hung in the air around the next corner, but she had no idea what it did. Reaching out with her left hand to bath it in the gently glowing light of the area yielded no results, yet the moment her head entered the zone nauseous vertigo assailed her. Stumbling back a bit to clear her head, Lilith tried to take stock of the situation, then thought of something she'd said to the judges during the Third Task… there were no rules against getting help, only that the teacher's of one's own school couldn't help with the Tasks.

"Mizyl!"

With a soft pop, the lavender eyed house-elf maiden appeared next to her carrying the sword, "Mistress called Mizyl?"

"Mizyl… there's a chalice on a pedestal somewhere in this maze. I would like to retrieve it as quickly as possible…"

Another pop sounded and the green-eyed form of Dobby appeared briefly with a "Dobby do!" before popping away again.

Lilith looked at Mizyl who shrugged her shoulders and waited for Dobby to return. A few seconds later the little guy popped back to her holding the prized Tri-Wizard Cup, but looking a bit dizzy. "Thank you, Dobby," Lilith said as she reached for the handle of the goblet… then the world became a tilt-a-whirl as the familiar sensation of a portkey took hold behind her navel.

* * *

Percy's actions caused a commotion in the Great Hall, the sudden appearance of a couple house-elves raised the din to a certified ruckus, and the abrupt kid-napping by Portkey of the pregnant witch they were all watching resulted in the furor catapulting all the way to a full blown chaotic maelstrom centered on the judges sitting at the head table.

Thankfully the live feed was still broadcasting the witch's current location like a blessed beacon of hope, so Amelia could dispatch her Aurors to the location right away; though with what happened next, that blessing certainly felt more like a curse.

* * *

The first thing she did when the spinning stopped was drop to her knees and expel everything she'd eaten since lunch. There was a reason why pregnant women were forbidden from traveling by Portkey. Dobby didn't look much better than she felt once she was able to lift her head a bit and try to take stock of her new surroundings: A graveyard, complete with a bubbling cauldron straight out of Macbeth, and a rat-faced villainous henchman scurrying about muttering about some ritual, but at least it wasn't raining.

Lilith was honestly surprised Pettigrew hadn't noticed her yet, but then saw Mizyl weaving some kind of spell over the area.

"Bad men here. Very bad. Yous must go Mistress," Mizyl stated quietly.

A huge snake suddenly burst out of the overgrown grass surrounding the headstones of the clearly abandoned graveyard, only to be sliced in two by Mizyl wielding Fragarach.

Unfortunately that also ended her concealment spell.

"Potter's here! Wormtail seize him!" a chilling voice rang out through the decaying mortuary.

Half a dozen rapid-fire pops saw Wirpy, Reesy, Zabby, Mindy, Nibsy, Veeny, and Hywil join Dobby and Mizyl in the graveyard; all but Dobby armed with some type of weapon from the tower's arsenal. The Potter and Slytherin elves were ready to do battle to protect their Mistress.

A frission of magical static washed over them as some form of ward was erected preventing some of the elves' magic from working, however, each of the house-elves, when defending their families, controlled powers no wizard could truly comprehend; and the weapons had powers of their own.

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey had been dreading this event so had been in the infirmary making sure everything was perfect for when the inevitable injured champions arrived she'd be ready for them. What she hadn't expected was two very determined witches bursting into her domain little more than twenty minutes after the event started. Miss Tolipan had started studying with her to learn if the girl had what it took to eventually become a healer herself, but the mediwitch didn't think Miss Greengrass had that ambition.

"What seems to be the nature of the medical emergency, ladies?"

"Lilith… kidnapped… dark lord…" Alice gasped out trying to catch her breath.

"How can we help?" Daphne finished.

Whatever Poppy had been expecting, that was not it, but could tell her current preparations would likely be woefully inadequate to the task ahead and began issuing orders to the two volunteers.

* * *

Umbridge was ecstatic, the little shit was in for a fight and she'd get to see exactly how the brat cast those wards. Then the girl cast a spell she called "miden parousia" and seemed to disappear for a minute. She felt like cheering when one of the disgusting elves got sliced in half by the wizard. Only the fact that she was surrounded by so many people rooting for the turd on screen kept her from showing her glee.

Fudge was having a mini panic attack. He like many of the adults in the hall recognized the supposedly deceased Order of Merlin (3rd Class) holder. Then the old elf using a long spear that seemed to pass through any shield Pettigrew threw up, knocked the cauldron over and the ugliest baby-like _thing_ he'd ever seen rolled out of a blanket and started casting killing curses at everything.

Then the Aurors arrived on the scene.

* * *

Zabby and Veeny were dead and between Pettigrew and Voldemort, Lilith was trapped behind the headstones while the other elves tried to harry the enemy enough to let her get away. She thought she'd at least been able to hit the baby-ish thing with a piercing hex, but was unable to get a really good look at the two of them. Then the Aurors arrived, and two of them joined with Pettigrew against the others. Reesy collected the fallen weapons while Dobby and Hywil pulled the bodies of the fallen elves away from the fight. Then Wirpy fell to a bombardment curse from one of the traitor Aurors, while Nibsy was clipped by a stunner, and Pettigrew transformed trying to flee the fight only to transform back when he ran into Mindy allowing the 'good' Aurors to re-engage the rat Animagus.

With three dead and two injured, Lilith ordered her elves to pull back until only Dobby remained at her side. Between the two of them blocking and shuffling quickly away from the central focus of the fight, they managed to get beyond the wards and Dobby popped her back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Anger seethed just below her calm façade. She didn't know why she'd been brought here originally, but the flashes of memories she saw as she slept were horrifying. The feeling of torturing and murdering random people with her own wand… she needed out of here before the thoughts they were putting into her head made her think they were real and started to twist her into the demon she dreamed about when she fell asleep.

* * *

Lilith had passed out shortly after Dobby brought her back to Hogwarts, so it was little surprise to her to be waking up in the Hospital Wing with Daphne and Valentine watching over her from one side and Amelia on her other. The argument between Fudge, Umbridge, Hyrenthal, Bones, and Pomfrey however could wake the dead… which is what she felt like.

"Hey, you're awake," Daphne said softly with a voice full of the emotions she so rarely showed.

"Not that I want to be," Lilith replied with a glare at the group at the far end of the hall.

Alice waved her wand and the noise at the other end of the ward abruptly stopped. "Might as well use it while I still can," the Hufflepuff prefect said with a shrug.

"You don't need to worry about that. Remember what Lilith told you… Ted's looking into it."

"What are you two talking about?" the purple haired Navajo girl asked.

"Just a bad living situation. Nothing you need concern yourself with," Alice quickly replied, hoping to change the subject.

The subject did change, however it had nothing to do with Alice's desire, as Madam Umbridge roughly grabbed the girl and began berating her silently for having been muted in the middle of the 'adult conversation' that had been taking place. Umbridge's eye opening comically wide at the feeling of a wand pressed into the back of her neck however quickly put a stop to that.

"You will unhand my student this instant, Deloris," Poppy said coldly, having been released from the spell by Madam Bones. "This is a medical ward not the Wizengamot chambers, you will obey my rules here."

"When can my student leave?" Hjørdis asked at the same time as Lilith requesting how the others were.

"She may be weak for a bit yet, but should be fine to leave any time now," Madam Pomfrey stated, ignoring the dirty looks from Fudge and Umbridge who wanted Lilith to support their version of events over the truth. The Mediwitch then turned to the Girl-Who-Lived, "The other champions are fine, minor bumps and such. It likely would have been much worse had you not ended the event so quickly."

"And the Aurors?"

"I'm afraid that's classified, Lady Black," Madam Bones interrupted, "but it does look like I've got a fair bit of work to do once I get back to the office."

"…tacking the Senior Undersecretary and Minister!" Umbridge interrupted herself mid-rant as the silencing hex was lifted, "I WANT THAT GIRL ARRESTED!"

Unfortunately for her, not even Fudge could see a way to make her wish a reality. Handing the bag of Galleons to Hjørdis, Cornelius pulled Umbridge away from the girls around the bed and out of the infirmary.

Salem's airship departed that evening, without even a by-your-leave to the Tournament Committee, shocking most of the students and guests currently residing in the castle. Only three had known what was happening, Alice, Daphne, and Hermione stood witness to their friends' departure. Even the note from the unwilling champion Daphne pressed to her chest promising to come back to her and Alice soon couldn't stop her tears from flowing. The shocking thing though was how she signed it: 'With all my love, Jamie Potter.'

* * *

-Author's Notes-

* * *

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this while I work on Risen… the two stories are so completely different it's not easy to think about one while working on the other. I have some plans with regards to fifth year in this story, though nothing really beyond that, so I think I'll place this one on hold while I see where Risen is headed and come up with some more material to work on here.

I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed this so far, but it feels more like a stage play from an audience member's point of view to me… check out Risen… that's more of a story style of writing.

Anyway… see y'all later…

Krys Griffin

* * *

Here's some biographical info for my story…

Daphne's birthday is August 22, 1980 (Leo Peridot)

Freyja Kathrine Sophia Hufflepuff (Lilith/Jamie) - Valerie Kyriessa Hufflepuff of the line of Malfoy

Lady Tanith Selena Slytherin (Lilith/Jamie) - Charis Eirene Slytherin of the line of Prince

Names preselected, blood test to determine parentage, only question is… which is born first?

 _Pregnancy Progression_

Nov 24 Task 1 Dragons & Inception (termed week 2 for the chart I'm using)

December 24 Event 1 Yule Ball 6.3 weeks

January 24 Task 2 Face Yourself 10.6 weeks waist thickening

February 24 Event 2 Cultural Exchange 15.1 weeks More energetic, less nauseous, sinus issues

March 24 Task 3 Rescue 19.1 weeks hungry, sharp pains in lower belly and groin on either or both sides

April 24 Event 3 "Exhibition Duels" 23.5 weeks swollen ankles and feet, soccer ball size belly

May 24 Task 4 Defensive Creativity 27.9 weeks baby tickles

June 24 Finale Maze Race 32.3 weeks mood swings, clumsiness, and fatigue due to baby's strong kicks

Birth on Sunday morning August 13, 4 days early… 40 weeks ends on Thursday August 17 (Leo Peridot)

* * *

As always… Like / Review / Whatever… till next time.


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